Being Bullied
by MoxiesdenLovesShandy
Summary: Andy wants to plan a getaway with Sharon and Matthew. He believes that Sharon could benefit from getting away for a couple of days after the events that occurred with Mark Wallace. This continues after my last story "Carnival Calamity". Will their plans be thrown to the wayside after catching another case? Meanwhile, a bullying incident occurs at Matthew's school.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Here is the next story following "Carnival Calamity". Hope you all enjoy it! For those of you who enjoy the Matthew and Moxie story line I've created, they are still here!

Chapter 1

It was Friday morning in the Flynn household. Matthew was already up and dressed for school and Sharon was in the kitchen making him breakfast. Andy came downstairs and joined them after a couple of minutes. He walked over to Sharon and gave her a kiss. "Good Morning" he said to her. "Hmm, good morning" Sharon said to Andy as they pulled away. Andy then brought the plates over to the table and sat down next to Matthew. "So, Matthew I was thinking if your mom and I don't catch any bad guys today, perhaps I could set up that pitching machine in the backyard tonight" Andy said to Matthew and Matthew's eyes lit up and he smiled. "What do you think?" Andy added as he watched Matthew. "Could we? Please?!" Matthew said excitedly to Andy. Sharon turned around and brought the pan of scrambled egg whites to the table. "As long as your homework is done beforehand" Sharon said to Matthew and Matthew nodded. Sharon looked at her boys and smiled, she then turned back to grab the toast. Matthew gave Andy a high five and then Andy stood up to grab the fruit bowl that Sharon prepared. They all sat down for breakfast.

After they were done, they drove Matthew to school. Sharon stepped out of the car with Matthew and Matthew stood in front of Sharon facing her. "Have a good day today. Be safe" Sharon said to him as she pulled him in for a hug. "I will, bye Mom" Matthew said to her. Matthew then turned to the window that was rolled down. "Bye Dad" he said as he waved to Andy. Moxie stuck his head out the window and panted. "Bye Moxie" Matthew said to Moxie. Matthew then walked over to where the other children were lining up to walk into school. Sharon saw that he was talking to another kid who was behind him in line and then the school bell rang and the children walked inside, Matthew included. Sharon then turned around and got back into the car.

Andy looked over at her as she put her seatbelt back on. "You okay?" Andy asked her. Sharon looked at him and smiled. "Yes" she answered him. Andy then drove to the doggie day care place and took Moxie inside. Andy walked back out to the car, carrying a piece of paper in his hand. "They're having a spring break special, if you board your dog with them for spring break" Andy said as he handed the flyer to Sharon. Sharon looked it over. "Hmm, unfortunately this is not when Matthew's spring break is from school" she said to him as she folded the paper and slipped it inside her purse. "Speaking of spring break" Andy said as he pulled out of the lot and headed towards the PAB. "I know we haven't gone anywhere since Matthew came into our lives last November" Andy said as Sharon smiled thinking about where Andy was headed with this. "But" she said leading him further. Andy smiled. "But, I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with Matthew, we could bring the dog with too, if you wanted that is" Andy said to her as they approached the 101 to head towards work.

Sharon looked out her window. "Let me think about it and I'll let you know" she said to him. "Oh, um" Andy said which made Sharon turn her head and look at him. "Did you already plan something, Andy?" Sharon asked him. "No, no I didn't" Andy said. "But, I may have already inquired to Provenza if I could get that time off" Andy said to her. Sharon sighed and took a deep breath. "Why didn't you ask me first?" Sharon asked him. "Well, because we were busy with that carnival case and in dealing with the aftermath of it, you seemed a little distant, so I thought I would see if I could get that time off, and then, of course you would get that time off, and maybe we could go somewhere as a family, you know, get away from all this" Andy said as he pointed to the downtown buildings of LA.

Sharon thought about what Andy had said. She did have a difficult time reconciling with their last case. She hated that Mark Wallace had no other choice but to kill himself. And she had to agree with Andy saying that she had been a little distant. She was worried about Andy and also worried about Matthew since he had the stomach flu. Matthew seemed to bounce back the next day with no lingering issues. After Andy made an appointment with his cardiologist and Sharon went with him to the appointment, she felt better at ease with Andy's health. She had been worrying about him a lot lately. Andy kept glancing at her every couple of seconds wondering if he might have overstepped somehow. He was getting worried when she didn't answer him at first. "Fine" she said to him. He glanced over at her and smiled, still driving in. "I'll put in a leave request too and we'll see where we can go for those days" Sharon said to him. Andy nodded as they pulled into the parking garage at the PAB.

They arrived in the Murder Room and everyone else was there already. "Morning Captain, Flynn" Provenza said to Sharon and Andy as they walked inside. "Morning Lieutenant" Sharon said to Provenza as she glanced over at him. Provenza was sitting at his desk, with his feet up, working on a crossword puzzle. Sharon continued to her office. Andy went over to Provenza. "So there's nothing going on this morning?" Andy asked him. "Nope, no murders to be solved or idiots to be arrested" Provenza answered without looking up at Andy. Andy continued to walk to his desk and sat down in his chair. He pulled out a sheet of paper that had all of Matthew's days off from school and looked at the calendar that was on his desk. He really wanted to get away with Sharon and Matthew sooner and was hoping for a long weekend somewhere. He read the paper and saw that Matthew's school was having a teacher's in-service day next Monday, which meant that they could turn next weekend into a long weekend. He looked up and glanced at everyone in the room as he tapped his pen on his desk.

Sharon sat down in her office and gathered all of the papers that were on her desk, shifting them into a neat pile. She needed to tackle those today. She was then thinking about what Andy said on their drive over to work. She would like to go away for Spring Break somewhere, but as she pulled out her calendar, the week after Easter seemed pretty far away. She looked through her weekly planner and saw that next Monday, Matthew would be off for a teacher's in-service. 'Hmm, we could go away somewhere for a long weekend' she thought to herself. Then if they still wanted to go somewhere during Spring Break, they could do so. The Major Crimes team was on call this weekend, and they would have the next weekend off so it would work out perfectly for them to get away.

Sharon placed her weekly planner back in her purse and pulled out a vacation request sheet from her desk drawer. Andy leaned back into his chair and thought about it for a second. He then turned his chair around to see what Sharon was doing in her office. He saw her writing something down at her desk. He decided that he would run his idea by her first, before requesting that day off. He stood up and walked over to her office door, knocking on it once and then entering.

"Hi" he said to her as he came inside her office, closing the door behind him. He took a seat in front of her desk. "I was thinking that Spring Break is pretty far away and that I would like to get away with you and Matthew sooner than that. I mean, it's the end of February, right? And we'd have to wait for the whole month of March to come and then two weeks in April before he's off, that's too far away" Andy rambled on and Sharon watched him as he did so. He was so cute when he did that. Andy caught Sharon staring at him, smiling as he was talking to her. "What?" he said interrupting her thoughts. "I'm just listening to you" she said as she continued to smile at him. He chuckled and smiled at her, feeling a little embarrassed at that moment. "Andy, I was thinking the same exact thing. His Spring Break is in the middle of April and who knows what will happen between now and then. I don't want to wait either to go away. So, I was looking at the calendar, and it looks like he's off next Monday" Sharon said to Andy. He watched her speak and smiled as well.

"Okay, I can send a request through Provenza to have that Monday off. I'm sure the division won't miss us for one day" Andy said to Sharon as he leaned forward in his chair and placed his hands on her desk. "Good" Sharon said to him. "So I was thinking about a couple of places we could go" Andy said as he played with her nameplate on her desk. Sharon shook her head slightly at Andy fidgeting where he sat. "Okay, where were you thinking?" Sharon asked him. "Well, we could go to Spring Training and see the Dodgers play a game or two there. I've been looking at their schedule and they have a game that Saturday and Sunday that we would be off" Andy said to her as she shifted in her chair. "Hmm, Spring Training, well he is interested in baseball" Sharon said to him. "We could drive there, it's only about five hours in the car to Glendale, Arizona from here" Andy added.

Sharon thought about what Andy said about taking Matthew to Spring Training. "We could buy the game tickets there at the stadium, all we would need to do is book a hotel now" Andy said to her. "Okay, let me finish up some of this paperwork here and then I have a meeting at 1 o'clock with Chief Howard. Hopefully we have an easy day the rest of the day" Sharon said to Andy. Andy nodded and stood up from his chair. "Great Sharon! I'll start looking at hotels there" Andy said excitedly and then walked out of her office back to his desk.

Andy pulled out his vacation request form and filled it out. He then brought it over to Provenza who was still working on his crossword puzzle. Andy handed him the form. "What's this?" Provenza asked him. "It's a vacation request" Andy said to him. "You want next Monday off, Flynn?" Provenza said as he looked over the form that Andy had handed to him. "Yes, Matthew is off of school and we are not on call that weekend so I am taking Sharon and Matthew on a trip" Andy said to him. Provenza listened to his friend and rolled his eyes. "Ye gods, I don't want to know where you are planning on taking them Flynn" Provenza said to him as he signed the form. "Spring Training" Andy said to him. "Spring Training?" Provenza said as he finished signing the form. He looked up at Andy who was standing by his desk. "Wait just a minute here, you're taking them to Spring Training, without me?" Provenza said looking hurt at Andy.

Andy looked back at Provenza. "Yes, Sharon and I just discussed it and since Matthew is into baseball right now, she thinks it will be the perfect opportunity to show Matthew a game or two" Andy said to him as he folded his arms in front of his chest. Provenza seemed to be getting jealous. "Just because we are not on call, doesn't mean we won't get called" Provenza said to Andy. "Listen, Sharon really needs this getaway. She's been worried about me, and I've been worried about her, especially with our last case with Mark Wallace killing himself" Andy said as he looked over at Sharon in her office. "She's been a little distant lately, and I want to take her on a little trip, and we can't wait for Matthew's Spring Break to come in April. So" Andy said to Provenza. "So, you want to go as soon as the both of you can, with Matthew" Provenza finished his sentence for him. "Exactly!" Andy said to him. "Alright, Flynn, if we get called out on a case next weekend, I'll run things until you and her get back" Provenza said to him as he shifted in his chair. "Thank you" Andy said to him and then returned to his desk, smiling from ear to ear. He couldn't wait.

The rest of the day went by quickly. They didn't catch anything yet, and Sharon came back from her meeting with Chief Howard, a little flustered. "Everything okay?" Andy asked her as she walked back into her office two hours later. Andy closed the door behind them as he followed her inside. "Winnie Davis is apparently in the running to replace Taylor's position as well" Sharon said as she sat down. "I thought you weren't going to put in for that?" Andy asked her cautiously. "I wasn't, but I don't like that woman" Sharon said as she looked at Andy. Andy chuckled and smiled at her. "You know who you sound like?" Andy said as Sharon sat there shaking her head. "Chief Johnson when she was here" Andy said. "Brenda?" Sharon said and Andy shook his head. "She would constantly be saying that about you whenever you would poke in to our investigations when you were in IA" Andy said, knowing he needed to tread lightly here if he didn't want to sleep on the couch tonight.

Sharon was lost in thought. Andy watched her for a minute before breaking her concentration by touching her hand as she sat in her office. "Sharon?" he said as she looked up at him. "Let's go pick up Matthew, and head home. It's already 3:30, there's nothing going on here. Provenza's ready to poke his eyes out if he does anymore crossword puzzles today" Andy said trying to get her to agree to send everyone home now. Sharon nodded her head. "Okay" she said to him and then she stood up and walked out of her office. "Everyone, since there doesn't seem to be anything else today, why don't you enjoy the rest of the day" Sharon said to her team as they gathered around. "Thank you Captain" Mike said as he walked over to his desk and gathered his things. Julio and Amy did the same and they left right away. Provenza looked at Andy as he placed his crossword puzzle back in his desk drawer and locked it. "Night Flynn" Provenza said as he walked out of the office. They would be on call if anything popped up, but they were glad that they were leaving a little earlier than usual.

Andy then turned around and watched Sharon, who was sitting behind her desk again. He decided to walk back in to her office to try to get her to leave as well. "So, since everyone else left already, are you ready to head out?" Andy asked her. Sharon was writing down a couple of things. "Yes, I'm just writing down somethings here and I'll be ready in two minutes" Sharon said to him. "Okay" Andy said to her as he nodded his head. Sharon picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Chief, I just wanted to let you know that I let my division leave a couple of minutes ago. Everything is caught up. Thank you Chief" Sharon said as she hung up the phone. She looked at Andy who was waiting patiently for her to be finished, and she smiled at him. She then stood up from her desk and gathered her things. She met him by her office door. "Ready?" he asked. Sharon leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Ready" she whispered to him and they walked out of the office together.

As the elevator doors opened, Sharon and Andy stepped inside the empty elevator and Andy pressed the button for the parking garage. Sharon held Andy's hand and stayed close to him. The elevator stopped on the third floor and when the doors opened, Winnie Davis stepped inside. Sharon squeezed Andy's hand. "Captain" Winnie Davis said to Sharon as she pressed the button for the first floor. "Chief Davis" Sharon said to her politely. Winnie Davis glanced briefly at the two of them holding hands and then looked at the elevator doors. Andy watched Sharon as they rode down the elevator. The ride was silent. As the elevator stopped on the first floor, Winnie Davis stepped out without saying anything else to Sharon or Andy and the doors closed again. Sharon let out the breath she was holding and Andy caressed his thumb over her hand he was holding. The doors opened to the parking garage and they stepped out. "Come on, you can take a nice relaxing bath when we get home while I set up the pitching machine in the yard for Matthew" Andy said as they walked to their car.

Andy held the passenger door open for Sharon as she climbed in and then closed the door for her. He then climbed into the driver's seat and they drove to pick Matthew up from school. "Did you see the way she glanced at us when she walked in the elevator?" Sharon said, breaking the silence as they drove. "Don't let her bother you, Sharon. Besides, holding hands with your husband isn't against the rules" Andy said to her. They drove for a little bit until Andy pulled into the parking lot of Matthew's school and parked the car.

They both walked in to pick Matthew up and as they walked inside the school, there was a commotion going on by the Principal's office. Andy looked at Sharon. "Go pick up Matthew, and I'll see what's happening over there" Andy said to Sharon as he walked towards where the Principal and another parent were arguing. Sharon reluctantly let Andy walk towards the argument while she turned to pick up Matthew at the after school care. As Andy approached the Principal and a man, he waited off to the side. The man looked over at Andy who was standing against the wall. "You got a problem?" the man said to Andy. Andy shook his head at him. "No, I just heard arguing coming from over here and I wanted to make sure that Principal Gottardo was okay" Andy said as he stared at the man. "Mr. Collins, be assured that we are addressing the matter that occurred today" Principal Gottardo said to the man and then the man left with his child.

"Thank you Lieutenant, sorry that occurred but we had an incident happen at the school today" Principal Gottardo explained to Andy as he waited for Sharon to come back with Matthew. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking" Andy said to her. "We had a bullying incident with Jimmy Collins. He was bullied by an older school boy and we are addressing that matter" Principal Gottardo said to him. Andy turned his head to see Sharon and Matthew walking towards him. "Matthew here actually stepped up when the bullying occurred on the playground. You both should be very proud of him as he did the right thing" Principal Gottardo said to Andy. Then the Principal walked back in to her office.

Sharon and Matthew met up with Andy. "What was that all about?" Sharon asked him as they walked outside to their car. "A bullying occurred on the playground" Andy said as he opened the car door. Matthew climbed in the back seat and put his seat belt on. He shut the door and turned to Sharon. "The Principal said that Matthew stepped up when the bullying occurred. The kid is in an older class and was bullying a kid from Matthew's class, according to the Principal" Andy explained to Sharon as they stood outside. "Matthew didn't mention anything like that to me" Sharon said to him. "We can discuss it with him when we get home" Andy said as he held her door open and she climbed back inside the car. They then drove to pick up Moxie from doggie day care and headed home.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 2

Sharon and Andy arrived home with Matthew and Moxie. As Matthew ran ahead with Moxie, once they were out of the car, Sharon walked with Andy from the garage to the backyard. Matthew was waiting for them to open the back door. He was very excited because not only did he finish his homework at school, he wanted to change his clothes quickly because Andy had promised to set up the pitching machine tonight. Sharon and Andy held each other's hands as they walked over to the door. "Come on, hurry!" Matthew said to the two of them as they came closer. "What are you in such a hurry for?" Andy said to Matthew as he got his house keys out. "Don't you remember? You said we could play with the pitching machine tonight after we came home" Matthew said, standing there jumping up and down. "Okay, okay!" Andy said as he laughed as Sharon ran her hand up and down Andy's back. He glanced at her, catching the smile that was on her face.

Andy unlocked the back door and Matthew ran inside with Moxie chasing after him. "Oh Matthew! Hang on one second before you go up to change" Sharon called out to him as he made his way to the kitchen but stopped short of the table. Sharon walked in after him and then Andy followed both of them to the kitchen. "We'd like to talk to you about something that happened at school today" Andy said to Matthew. Matthew looked at both of them, they had their serious faces on so Matthew had a seat at the kitchen table. "Okay" he said as he sat down. "So, tell me, what happened at school?" Sharon asked Matthew as she sat down at the table with him. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know" he said to them. "Matthew, what happened on the playground" Sharon tried asking him again. Matthew just looked at her. "Am I in trouble?" Matthew asked. "No, sweetie, you're not in trouble" Sharon said to him.

"Matthew, we just want to understand what happened today, that's all" Andy said to Matthew as he sat down next to him. Matthew looked at both Andy and Sharon with a worried look on his face. "There was an older kid on the playground that was making fun of Jimmy. I didn't like what he was saying to him so I stepped between them and told the older kid to stop talking" Matthew said to them. Sharon nodded. "Okay, so then what happened" Sharon said encouraging Matthew. "I pulled Jimmy with me and I told a teacher what had happened" Matthew said as he was playing with his hands. "Did the older kid stop talking?" Andy asked him. "The teacher went over to him and spoke to him" Matthew said as he sat there. "That's all I know, okay?" he added. Where were Colin and Avery when this happened?" Sharon asked him. "They weren't outside because they have a different recess time" Matthew explained. Sharon nodded and then looked at Andy. "You did a good job, Matthew" Andy said to him as he ruffled his hair again. "Come here Matthew" Sharon said to him and smiled at him. Matthew got up and walked over to where she was sitting. Sharon held her arms out and Matthew gave her a hug. "We are very proud of you for sticking up for your friend against a bully" Sharon said to him. "Okay" Matthew said. He then looked at Sharon. "Can I go change my clothes now?" Matthew asked. "Sure" Sharon said and then Matthew went upstairs to change his clothes.

Andy watched Sharon as she sat at the kitchen table. She was thinking about something and didn't realize Andy had stood up and walked over to her until he placed his hands on her shoulders and started to give her a massage. She jumped when he started but soon relaxed. "Hey, are you sure everything is okay?" he leaned down and whispered into her ear. Sharon leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes. "Things are going to get pretty heated with four candidates for the Assistant Chief's position" Sharon said as she relaxed underneath Andy's hands. "Is that what you discussed with Chief Howard for two hours today?" Andy asked her as he kept massaging her shoulders. He leaned down and started kissing her neck. Sharon enjoyed that a lot as she opened her eyes and smiled. She brought her right hand up to meet his face and held him to her neck. A spot that drove her crazy. Before the both of them could get carried away, they heard Matthew running back down the stairs and she let go of Andy's head.

"I'm ready" Matthew said as he wore his Dodgers jersey and a pair of sweatpants. Sharon smiled at Matthew. "Okay, buddy, let me go change and I'll be right back" Andy said to him as he walked away from them and went upstairs. Giving Sharon a massage made him excited and he needed to cool off. He went in to their bedroom and placed his gun in the safe, then placed his badge on his dresser and proceeded to change his clothes.

Sharon wanted to talk with Matthew about bullying. "Have a seat" she said to him as she pulled a chair out for him. Matthew huffed and dragged his feet but sat down eventually. "Fine" he said to her. "I want to talk to you about bullying, Matthew" Sharon said as she looked at him. Matthew was looking down at the floor but then looked at Sharon. "I just wanted to make sure that you are okay. I know you stood up to that bully, and I am very proud of you for doing that" Sharon said as Matthew looked at her, slouched on his chair. "And you did the right thing by going and telling a teacher what happened" Sharon added. "I know that you and Daddy stand up to bullies all the time because you are the Police so I thought I would do the same when I saw Jimmy getting bullied" Matthew said to her. Sharon smiled at him as she heard Andy coming downstairs.

Andy was wearing his Dodgers jersey and a pair of jeans. "Okay, are you ready?" Andy said as he walked in to the kitchen and looked at Matthew. Matthew looked at Sharon and she nodded. Matthew then jumped off the chair and headed towards the back door. "Are you coming too?" Andy said to Sharon. "I'll join you there in a minute" she said to him and he smiled and winked back at her as he headed to the back yard. Sharon went upstairs to change her clothes into something more comfortable.

Andy, Matthew, and Moxie were all in the back yard when Sharon joined them a couple of minutes later. Andy was putting together the pitching machine and Matthew was chasing Moxie around. Sharon sat down on the porch swing and watched her boys play in the yard. She was very happy with where her career was at this time. She didn't want to get promoted into another job. She was happy being Captain in charge of the Major Crimes Division. But, she knew that Winnie Davis wanted to be Assistant Chief so badly, and she was vindictive in her ways. Their encounter with her in the elevator wasn't the first nor would it be the last. Sharon knew LAPD policy better than anyone at the department because of all of her time spent in IA and FID. Winnie Davis thought she knew the policy because she's tried to trip up Sharon a couple of times before when she was in FID. Sharon immediately shut her down back then, and ever since, she's felt animosity towards Sharon. Matthew hitting the whiffle ball from the pitching machine brought Sharon out of her thoughts as he ran around the make-shift bases in the yard. Andy chased after the ball before Moxie could pick it up. "Yeah!" Sharon said as she clapped for Matthew. Andy smiled as Matthew kept hitting the ball.

Matthew continued to play in the yard with Moxie after they were done playing with the pitching machine. Andy walked over to where Sharon was sitting on the porch swing and joined her. He took her hands in his. "You're hands are cold" Andy said as he held them. Sharon snuggled up to him. It was getting a little cooler as the sun was starting to set. "Hmm, now I have my personal heater with me to warm me up" Sharon said to him, smiling. Sharon then placed her hands inside of Andy's Dodgers jersey as he placed his arms around her and rubbed his chest through his undershirt. "What do you want to do for dinner?" Andy asked her as they watched Matthew play with Moxie. Sharon thought about it. "I could get the grill ready and grill some chicken if you'd like that" Andy suggested as he ran his hand up and down her arm to keep her warm. "Mmm hmm, that would be nice" Sharon said to him as she leaned over and kissed him.

Matthew walked over to where Sharon and Andy were sitting on the porch and placed the whiffle bat down on the ground. That caused Sharon and Andy to break apart from their kiss. "Are you all done playing out here?" Sharon asked him. "Um, I'm getting kind of hungry now" Matthew said to her as he walked over to them. Andy scooted over to make room for Matthew and Matthew sat in between them on the swing. "Well, we were thinking about grilling some chicken and potatoes. Does that sound like something you'd like?" Sharon said to him. Matthew nodded his head. "Can I help you get things ready?" Matthew asked Sharon. "Sure, come on. Let's get you cleaned up first and then you can help me get everything ready for Daddy to put on the grill" Sharon said as she stood up from the swing and held out her hand for Matthew.

Matthew followed Sharon inside and Andy was getting the grill ready. Moxie was enjoying the outdoors, lying on the porch watching Andy move the grill around. Matthew washed his hands and then came back in to the kitchen where Sharon was standing by the kitchen sink. She washed her hands and then they started to prepare the chicken and the potatoes. A few minutes later, Matthew came outside holding a tray with the food that Andy was going to grill. Sharon held the door for him. "Careful, buddy" Andy said as he took the tray from Matthew and sat it down on the side bar of the grill. Andy then opened the grill cover and placed the chicken and the potatoes on the grill. "We'll let that cook for a while" Andy said to Matthew as he closed the cover to the grill. Matthew walked over to where Moxie was lying on the ground and sat down next to him, scratching behind Moxie's ears. Andy watched Matthew as he sat down on the porch swing.

Sharon was inside the kitchen preparing a few extra things when the phone rang in the house. She answered it, seeing that it was Nicole calling them. "Hello?" Sharon said on the phone. "Hi Sharon, how are you" Nicole said to her. "Oh, I'm doing well. We are just preparing some dinner over here" Sharon answered her. "Ok, well, I won't keep you long. I just wanted to know what you knew about the bullying incident at the boys' school today" Nicole asked Sharon. "Oh, well, from what Matthew told me, an older boy at the school was picking on a boy named Jimmy. He's in Matthew's class. Matthew saw what happened and told the older boy to stop. Then he informed the teacher on the playground and I guess that teacher spoke to the older boy" Sharon said to Nicole. "Huh, okay. We just wanted to make sure that Matthew wasn't the one getting bullied because the boys said it was a younger boy but that was all they could tell me" Nicole said to Sharon.

About five minutes later, Sharon came out to join Andy, Matthew, and Moxie outside. Sharon sat down next to Andy on the swing. "Your daughter just called a couple of minutes ago" Sharon said to Andy as he wrapped his arm around her. "She did?" Andy said to her. "She wanted to know what happened at the school playground" Sharon said to him as they watched Matthew play with Moxie again in the back yard. "I told her what Matthew told us. She just wanted to make sure it wasn't Matthew that was getting bullied by the older boy" Sharon explained to Andy. Andy nodded his head and then got up to check on the food.

He came back over to her and pulled her hands to stand up. "You know, we should make reservations at the hotel in Glendale, if we are still thinking about Spring Training" Andy said to Sharon as he pulled her in for a hug. "Should we tell him or let it be a surprise?" Sharon whispered in Andy's ear. Andy groaned as her hands went around to his back and rubbed his back. "We can tell him, but Sharon, you need to stop that or else dinner is going to be severely barbequed" Andy said to her as he reluctantly pulled away from her embrace. Andy then walked over to the grill and flipped the chicken on the grill one more time to thoroughly cook it.

"Hey Matthew! Can you come here?" Sharon called out to him. Matthew came running over to where they were standing. "How would you like to go see the Dodgers in Spring Training?" Andy asked Matthew. "You mean go see them play a game?" Matthew asked. "Uh huh" Andy said to him and Matthew was all excited. "When?" Matthew asked. "Well, next weekend your Mom and I are not on call and you have that following Monday off from school so we were thinking going then" Andy said to him. "Oh my gosh! I can't wait to go!" Matthew said to them, excited. "Can I start packing now?" Matthew asked as Andy tended to the grill. "No sweetie, we will have time to pack in a couple of days" Sharon said to him. "If you want to set some things aside that you want to take with, you can do that" she added.

"Wait a minute, where's Moxie going to be if we are at the game?" Matthew asked. "We are either going to ask Rusty if he could watch Moxie or Moxie will have his own vacation at the Doggie Day care place" Andy answered him. "Let's see if Rusty could watch him, he'll miss his bed if he doesn't stay here" Matthew said as he walked in the house with Moxie. Andy placed all of the food on a clean plate and brought the plate in the house. He placed it on the kitchen table. "Dinner is served" Andy said to Matthew and Sharon.

After dinner was finished, Matthew asked Sharon if he could watch some TV. "Why don't you go upstairs and take a bath first. After you're done, then you can watch TV" Sharon said to him as Andy cleaned up the kitchen. "Why do I need a bath?" Matthew asked. "You played in the yard almost all night, running around, sliding into bases, you need a bath" Sharon explained to Matthew but Matthew didn't want anything to do with a bath and he started to have a tantrum. "Hey hey, we do not do that Matthew" Andy scolded him. "If you keep that up, no Dodgers game" Andy said to him. Matthew stopped throwing his tantrum and looked at Andy. "I'm sorry" Matthew said in his shy voice. "Okay, now let's go upstairs and get you ready for your bath" Sharon said as she walked with Matthew upstairs. Andy just shook his head as he placed the dishes in the dishwasher. He then fed Moxie dinner and went to relax on the couch.

Matthew came running downstairs and headed to the family room where he saw Andy sitting on the couch. "Did you take your bath?" Andy asked as he noticed Matthew was now wearing his pajamas. Matthew nodded. "What are you watching?" Matthew asked him as he sat next to Andy. "Oh, well I was watching sports news but we can change that if you want to watch something" Andy said to him. Just then, Sharon joined them and then all three of them were sitting on the couch, Matthew in the middle. "Can we watch Batman?" Matthew asked. Sharon looked at Andy. "Batman, didn't you see all of the cartoon movies we have?" Andy said as he got up from the couch and went to see which Batman movie Matthew wanted to watch. "Batman versus Joker" Matthew said to Andy and Andy pulled it out of the DVD cover and placed it inside the player. Andy then sat back down on the couch and Matthew started to watch the movie. Andy leaned over to where Sharon was sitting and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Dad, pay attention to what Batman does here" Matthew said to Andy as he watched the TV. Andy chuckled and so did Sharon. All three of them continued to watch the movie.

It was time for bed and the movie was over so Sharon turned the TV off. Matthew got up off the couch and gave Andy a hug. "Good night buddy" Andy said to him. "Good night Dad. I had fun tonight" Matthew said to him. "Oh, I'm glad you did" Andy said to Matthew and then Matthew went upstairs with Sharon. Sharon tucked him into bed. "Have a good night" she said to him as she pulled his covers up. "Good night Mom" Matthew said to Sharon as Moxie settled on Matthew's bed. "Night sweetie" Sharon said to him as she kissed his forehead. She then got up and closed the door behind her.

While Sharon brought Matthew up for bed, Andy was in the den booking a reservation at the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, Arizona. There was a spa there, so Sharon could relax. There was also a pool so Matthew could go swimming. The hotel wasn't that far from Camelback Ranch where the Dodgers play, so it was very convenient. Andy then locked up downstairs and joined Sharon upstairs in their room.

By the time Andy made it to their room, Sharon was already dressed for bed. Andy closed the door to their room and walked over to where Sharon was sitting on their bed. "I believe you're overdressed" Sharon said to him as he leaned down to give her a kiss. "I can fix that" Andy said to Sharon and then he started to undress. He crawled into bed and joined Sharon. He kissed her lips and her body. Sharon kissed him in return and the two of them made love to each other. "I missed you" Andy whispered to Sharon afterwards, as they both laid together in bed, sheets tangled around them. "I know, I'm sorry I've been distant lately" Sharon said quietly to him. "No need to be sorry" Andy said to her as he held her close to him. "I love you Andy, so much" Sharon said to him as he held her. Andy kissed her head. " I love you too, sweetheart" Andy said to her and they both drifted off to sleep.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 3

Andy stirred in his sleep as he pulled Sharon's body closer to him. His phone was ringing, which woke him up. As he reluctantly let go of Sharon's body, he rolled over to answer his phone. Briefly looking at the screen before answering he saw Provenza's name. "Yeah?" Andy answered quietly, trying not to wake up Sharon. "Sorry to wake you Flynn, but we have a dead 13 year old child that just washed up in the LA River" Provenza said to him over the phone. "What?" Andy said as he started to get out of bed and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know all the details yet, Sykes called me a couple of minutes ago" Provenza said as Andy walked over to their closet to get dressed. "I'll meet you at the bike path and Los Feliz Boulevard" Andy said as he hung up his phone. He glanced at the time, it was 2:50 in the morning. 'What was a 13 year old kid doing down there at this time of night?' Andy thought to himself as he got dressed.

Sharon rolled over when Andy got up from bed and briefly hearing the one-sided conversation, she knew they had just caught a case. She got out of bed and went to their closet, joining Andy as soon as he hung up his phone. "Sorry I woke you" Andy said as he rubbed her arm. Sharon went through and grabbed a blouse, jeans, and a cardigan sweater. "You don't have to come with, I can call you later" Andy suggested to Sharon but she shook her head. "If a child is involved, I want to be there" Sharon said to him as she made her way with her clothes to their bathroom to change. 'Yep, this is going to be a long day' Andy thought to himself as he finished getting dressed.

After getting ready, Andy picked up his phone and dialed Rusty's number. "Rusty, sorry to wake you, but we need you to come stay at the house. Your mom and I just got called out to a crime scene" Andy said to Rusty over the phone. "Uh, okay I'll be there in like five minutes" Rusty said sleeping as he hung up his phone. Rusty made his way over from the apartment over the garage to the main house. Andy was already in the kitchen grabbing a quick bite to eat when he heard Rusty unlock the back door. "Matthew's still sleeping upstairs" Andy said to Rusty as Rusty walked in to the kitchen. Sharon then came downstairs and met them in the kitchen. "Thank you for coming over" Sharon said to Rusty as she gathered her things. "No problem, good luck" Rusty said to them as they left the house. He turned around, deciding what to do next.

Sharon and Andy got in their car and drove to the crime scene. It only took them fifteen minutes to get there. As Andy pulled up to the entrance of the bike path on Los Feliz, they saw that the coroner's van was already on site. Sharon and Andy stepped out of their vehicle and made their way down the path to where the body was discovered. Provenza was standing at the scene as they approached. "Captain, sorry to disturb you this early on a Saturday" Provenza said to her. "What do we have, Lieutenant?" Sharon asked. "A 13 year old boy who was discovered by a passerby on a bike this evening. The boy was washed up on the rocks of the river. Body was found over there" Provenza said to Sharon as he pointed to the direction where the body was found. Sharon walked over to the body as Kendall was performing a preliminary exam. Andy followed her to where Kendall was examining the body.

"Captain, we'll know more once we bring the body down to the morgue, but I can tell you that time of death was around 10:30 last night. No signs of a struggle either" Kendall said to Sharon as she knelt down on the ground to get a better look at the body. Sharon stared at the body for a couple of minutes before Andy placed his hand on her shoulder. Sharon stood back up and walked with Provenza and Andy. "Captain, Julio is interviewing the biker that discovered the body and I have Amy with patrol officers scouring the bike path up and down, looking for evidence" Provenza told Sharon as they approached where Mike was standing with Buzz.

Mike was looking at his pad of paper when Sharon, Provenza, and Andy approached him. "Ah, Captain, I've been inquiring with Robby Oderno to see if there are any reports of a missing 13 year old boy, so far nothing's popped up" Mike said to Sharon as he glanced over at Andy and Provenza. "Okay, keep on that Mike, thank you" Sharon said to Mike and then turned her attention to Buzz. "Captain, there are no surveillance cameras in the area of the bike path. I took some videos of the area where we are standing at and where the body was discovered" Buzz said to Sharon. "Thank you Buzz" Sharon said to him and then turned around to look at Andy and Provenza. "We need to know who this child is" Sharon said to them as she watched the body being carried over to the coroner's van. Andy placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Aren't there access points all along the river system for this bike path?" Provenza said to them. "Yes, I think it starts up at Griffith Park and then runs down towards Glendale Junction" Andy said. "That's assuming that this child was on the bike path when he was killed, Lieutenants" Sharon said to Andy and Provenza. "He could have gotten in the river anywhere and ended up at this location" Andy said to her. "Exactly" Sharon said to them as she turned around and headed to where Julio was talking with the passerby. Andy watched Sharon walk away and he shook his head and sighed. Provenza glanced at Andy. "This is not going to be pretty, no matter what the outcome of this is" Provenza said to Andy. "Yeah" Andy said to him as he folded his arms across his chest and watched Sharon speak to Julio.

"Ma'am, I just spoke with Jaime Anderson, the passerby on the bike that discovered the kid's body" Julio started to say to Sharon as she glanced over where this passerby was standing, now talking with patrol officers. She then turned her attention back to Julio. "He was out riding his bike this late because he's training for an ironman competition and this time of the night, the bike path is not crowded at all. Anyway, he says he saw an object floating by the rocks over there and when he approached the object, he saw it was a body. He called 911 right away and reported it, waiting for patrol officers to come on the scene" Julio said to Sharon. "What does he do for work?" Sharon asked Julio. "He's a broker for a financial firm in downtown LA" Julio answered her. Sharon glanced over at Jaime Anderson and then looked at Julio. "His story checks out, ma'am. He's done several ironman competitions in the past according to this website" Julio said to Sharon as he showed her his phone with the information. Sharon nodded her head and took a deep breath. "Thank you" she said to Julio as she left to rejoin Andy who was now standing where an overlook was located.

Sharon walked over to Andy and stood next to him as he watched the flow of the river. "Why was this kid out so late?" Andy said to her. "I don't know" Sharon said as she glanced up at him. "And how come his parents aren't looking for him?" Andy asked in a harsher tone. Sharon touched his arm with her hand. "Come on, let's head in to the office where we can go over all of the information gathered tonight" Sharon said to him as she tugged on his jacket. Andy turned towards her and followed her back to the car. "Lieutenant, let's head back to the Murder Room so we can go over everything at once" Sharon said to Provenza as they passed him up on the way to their car. "Yes Captain" he said to her as he looked around and gestured for Mike, Buzz, and Julio to wrap everything up.

As Andy and Sharon drove to the PAB, the ride over there was silent. Sharon was staring out the window. Andy glanced over at her, she seemed lost in thought. This was not what Andy had in mind at 4 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday none the less. No, he'd rather be still in bed with Sharon, wrapped in his arms. Instead, they are driving into work to try and find out why a 13 year old boy was killed and found in the LA River. Andy's concentration was broke when Sharon spoke to him. He glanced over at her and she was watching him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Andy said to her as he pulled in to the parking garage of the PAB. She grabbed his right hand that was on the console and squeezed it. "I asked if you were okay, you seemed a little out of it driving back here" Sharon said to him as they pulled into a parking spot.

"I'm fine" he said to her as they both got out of the vehicle and headed towards the elevators. She grabbed his hand as they stepped inside and Sharon gave his hand a little squeeze before the doors closed. Sharon glanced at her watch, 4:30 it said. She leaned her head on Andy's shoulder as they rode up to their floor. The doors opened and they stepped out and walked towards their office. As they stepped inside, Provenza was sitting at his desk collecting coins in his jar as Julio had printed up some information. Julio then placed them up on the Murder Board. Sharon walked to her office and placed her things on her desk before joining her team in front of the board.

"We don't have an ID on the kid yet, Captain" Provenza said as she was looking at the pictures on the board. Andy leaned up on the desk next to where Sharon was standing. Mike hung up his phone and sat back in his chair. "Missing persons still doesn't have any reports in their system about a missing 13 year old boy" Mike said to the group. "Amy is still looking over the area with patrol. She said she would call if they found anything" Provenza said to Sharon as he held up his cell phone. Julio hung up his phone. "Ma'am that was Dr. Morales. He said to give him two hours and he'll be ready for us by then" Julio said to Sharon.

"Okay, in the meantime, let's find out where the river starts its flow down towards LA, perhaps we're not looking in the right area for a missing person's report" Sharon said to the team as she headed in to her office. Provenza looked at Andy who looked at Mike who was looking at Julio. Buzz walked by their desks and handed Mike a map of the Los Angeles River system. "Thanks Buzz" Mike said as he unfolded the map and placed it across an empty desk. "Okay, so the river starts up here were the two creeks join together in Canoga Park" Mike said as he pointed at the map. "Right behind a high school" Andy said to them. "A 13 year old would be in 8th grade" Mike said to Andy. "So the river flows downward through residential communities until it gets to Sepulveda Basin. It then goes through the park, back through residential communities of Sherman Oaks, Reseda, Studio City" Mike said. "And so on and so on" Provenza said interrupting Mike as Mike gave him a look. "Until it reaches Griffith Park, here" Mike said as he pointed to the area on the map. "This kid could be from anywhere" Andy said to them as he glanced at the picture on the Murder Board.

Meanwhile, Amy was looking over the area with patrol officers. They were across from the Los Angeles Zoo, still on the bike path. She was searching the area with her flashlight looking for any signs of an entry point into the river. "Detective" Sergeant Miller said to Amy as he approached her. "Sergeant" Amy said as he came up to her. "We've looked up and down this bike path for an entry into the river, if it's here, we can't see it" Sergeant Miller said to Amy. "The sun is going to come up in two hours, perhaps with the sunlight, we will be able to see more" Sergeant Miller stated. Amy called Provenza on her cell phone.

Provenza was sitting at his desk when his cell phone rang. "Sykes, please tell me you got something!" Provenza said as he answered his phone. "Sorry Lieutenant. We've searched the bike path from where the body was discovered all the way up to the LA Zoo. We can't find an entry point into the river" Amy said to Provenza. Provenza huffed. "Okay Sykes" he said to her. "Sergeant Miller suggests that we wait for the sun to come up and then use the daylight to possibly find an entry point" Amy said to him. Provenza shook his head. Andy was watching him. "Alright, we'll resume when the sun comes up I guess" Provenza said as he rubbed his hand over his face. "Come on back to the office" Provenza told Amy and then hung up his phone.

"Sykes has hit a dead end with the bike path. She's heading back now" Provenza said to Andy, Mike, Julio, and Buzz as he leaned back in his chair. Andy glanced over at Sharon in her office. She was sitting behind her desk on her laptop computer. "Tao, I want you to check on any missing kids reported a week ago anywhere from Canoga Park and along the river route" Provenza said to Mike. "On it" Mike said as he turned his chair around and started typing on his computer. "Julio, let's contact the Police Academy and get some recruits to help us with the search when the sun comes up" Provenza said to Julio. "Yes sir" Julio said. "Come on Flynn, let's go brief the Captain on what we know so far" Provenza said as he stood up and walked with Andy to Sharon's office. "Which isn't much" Andy said as he knocked on her door.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 4

Matthew woke up and climbed out of his bed. Moxie followed him to the door and Matthew opened it, heading out in to the hallway. He looked around and listened if he could hear anything. He heard a faint noise coming from downstairs. Someone was watching TV down there. He decided to go look for himself and moved down the stairs, Moxie quickly following him. Matthew noticed that a couple of lights were on in the family room and the kitchen so he made his way to the family room. Moxie rushed ahead of him and was wagging his tail when he encountered Rusty. Matthew made his way around the couch and sat on it next to Rusty. "What are you doing here so early?" Matthew asked him as Rusty flipped channels on the remote. "Mom and Andy had to go to work so they asked me to stay here with you" Rusty said to Matthew as he changed the channel to some Disney cartoon. Matthew yawned and looked at Moxie who was now laying down next to the couch. Rusty sent a quick message to Sharon to let her know that Matthew was awake and downstairs with him.

Sharon glanced at her phone as Andy and Provenza walked in to her office. "Captain, we thought we would go over what we have so far with you" Provenza said to Sharon as he took a seat in one of the chairs across from her desk. "Okay, let's hear what we have" Sharon said to him. Andy took the other seat and sat down. "Amy called, she stated that they searched the bike path for an entry point to the river from where the body was discovered up to the Los Angeles Zoo, they couldn't find anything" Provenza said. Sharon listened to him but then turned her head to think. "One of the Sergeants with her suggested that we postpone the search until daylight, which will make the searching easier" Provenza added but got no response from Sharon. "Anyway, she's headed back to the office" Provenza said. "Good, what about missing persons reports outside of LA?" Sharon asked.

"Mike is working on that right now, so we will see where that leads us" Andy said to Sharon. Sharon kept her arms folded in front of her as Andy spoke. "Julio is contacting the Police Academy to get the new recruits to help in the search once it's daylight outside" Provenza stated. "Okay, so until Doctor Morales tells us more information on the body, we are at a standstill" Sharon said to them as she leaned back in her chair. "We don't know if this was accidental or a murder" Sharon said as she looked out in to the office as Amy walked back in to join them. Provenza turned around in his chair. "I'll go see what Amy found out, if anything" Provenza said as he stood up and left Sharon's office.

Andy watched Sharon as she sat there behind her desk. "Rusty texted me earlier that Matthew is up and they were watching TV" Sharon said to Andy as she looked out the window at the buildings outside. Andy glanced at his watch. "Well, it's 6:15 on a Saturday morning. I'm surprised he even slept that late" Andy said to Sharon. Andy stood up and walked over to where Sharon was sitting and leaned up against her desk. "Penny for your thoughts?" he said quietly to her. "There's a 13 year old boy who is laying in the morgue right now, and we don't even know his name yet. It seems like no one cares that he's missing, Andy" Sharon said to Andy as Andy grabbed her hands and held them. "We'll figure this out" Andy said to her as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Just then there was a knock on Sharon's door. Andy pulled away as the door opened and Julio was standing on the other side. "Doctor Morales called, Captain. He's ready for us" Julio said. Sharon nodded and stood up, walking out of her office with Andy. "Detective, I want you and Amy to be ready to start searching again once we figure out the cause of death" Sharon said to Julio. "Yes ma'am" Julio said and sat back down at his desk.

Sharon, Andy, and Provenza walked outside the office to the elevators to go to the morgue. As the three of them stepped into the elevator, Sharon's phone alerted to a text message. Andy's phone did so as well. They both looked at their phones with a puzzled look. "What is it?" Provenza asked them as they rode down. "Matthew's school is having a mandatory parental meeting Monday night to discuss bullying" Andy said as the elevator stopped on the third floor. Andy looked up to see what floor they were on but before he could say anything the doors opened and Winnie Davis stepped inside. "Oh, Captain fancy seeing you here on a Saturday morning" Winnie Davis said as she pressed the button for the first floor. Sharon was going to say something but Provenza beat her to it. "We caught a case involving the body of a 13 year old child" Provenza said to her. "Oh, Lieutenant Provenza, sorry to hear that. Hopefully you solve it quickly, Captain. Would hate to see the overtime budget for your team go in the red" Winnie Davis said to them as the doors opened on the first floor. Sharon squeezed Andy's hand as he was going to say something but Winnie Davis stepped out and the doors closed again.

"I really don't like her" Provenza said as the elevator moved again. "Yeah, you and me both" Andy said to him. "Gentlemen, we have a case to solve" Sharon said to them, keeping her cool. Provenza and Andy both looked at Sharon. "She and I have had our run ins in the past and now that she's in her position, she's jumping at any opportunity to shut me down" Sharon said as the elevator doors opened and they walked out towards the examination room at the morgue. "But, off the record, I would have to agree with the two of you" Sharon said which made Andy smile. His smile was short lived when they met Doctor Morales outside of the examination room.

Sharon, Andy, and Provenza all gowned up outside of the room and then Doctor Morales held the door open for them to come in to the examination room. Sharon stepped in and saw the child laying on the table with a sheet covering his body. There was a bruise on the boy's face and some cuts along his arms and chest. "Doctor" Sharon said to him as she walked over to the body. "This child was hit in the face prior to drowning in the river" Doctor Morales stated to them as they came over to the body. "Is that the actual cause of death, Doc?" Andy asked him. "Yes, there was river water in his lungs and stomach, which would suggest that this boy drowned" Doctor Morales stated. Andy closed his eyes briefly. "So this bruise on his face" Sharon asked. "That happened prior to him drowning, maybe a couple of minutes beforehand, judging by the tissue and blood surrounding the bruise" Doctor Morales said. "So this kid was punched and then fell into the river" Provenza stated. "Looks that way, Lieutenant" Doctor Morales said.

"What about all of these cuts on his arms and chest?" Sharon asked Doctor Morales. "Those are post mortem. Probably from rocks or other objects in the river" Doctor Morales stated to her. Doctor Morales then placed an x-ray photo up on the light board. "I took an x-ray of his arms, legs, and feet to see if he had broken anything in the past. Everything looked normal" Doctor Morales said to them as they looked at the x-rays with him. Sharon then turned to look at the body again. She walked over to the child and placed her hand on the child's face. "What about dental records or fingerprints, could we ID him through those?" Sharon asked as she looked up at the three of them watching her. "I could run his fingerprints in the system, maybe his parents registered him when he was little" Doctor Morales stated and then left the room to get a fingerprint kit.

Sharon looked at the body again. "I'll let Julio and Amy know to start the search again, Captain" Provenza said to her as he stepped out of the room and notified them. Andy walked up next to Sharon and placed his hand on her arm. "Sharon?" he said to her quietly. She shook her head. Just then, Doctor Morales came back in to the room and took the child's fingerprints. "Okay, let's see if we can get an ID, hopefully" he said as he ran them in the computer. Sharon followed the doctor to where he was standing at the computer in the exam room. Andy's focus was on Sharon while she stood there, watching the computer run through the system. Provenza walking back into the room broke his concentration and then he looked at the body of the child laying in front on him. He did not want this child to be another John Doe.

"I'm sorry Captain, but this child is not in the database" Doctor Morales said to Sharon as he turned around to look at her, Andy, and Provenza. Sharon sighed at that moment. "Okay, thank you Doctor" she said as she glanced at Andy and then walked out of the room. "Thanks Doc" Andy said as he followed Sharon outside. She was removing her gown when Andy joined her in the hallway. Provenza followed him. "I'm going to head back to the office. I would like the two of you to join the search along the river for anything that looked like an entry point" Sharon said to Andy and Provenza. "Yes Captain" Provenza said as he watched Sharon walk away. Andy followed her to the elevators. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked her, concerned. Sharon shook her head as she waited for the elevator. "I'll be fine. Please keep me informed, Andy" she said to him as she stepped on to the elevator and the doors closed. Andy stood there as Provenza walked over to join him.

"This case is not what she needed right now" Andy said to Provenza as they waited for the elevator to return. "We'll catch this bastard that did this, Flynn. We will most definitely catch them" Provenza said as the elevator came and they stepped inside. Provenza and Andy made their way to the parking garage and then drove to meet up with Julio, Amy, and the rest of the search party. The sun was up and it was going to be a clear day. Provenza pulled up to the parking area where the search was being conducted. Andy stepped out of the vehicle and Provenza joined him as they walked over to where Amy and Julio were standing.

"Were you able to get an ID sir?" Julio asked Andy. "No, the kid is not registered in our database and so far, no one has filed a missing person's report" Andy answered Julio as the two of them walked the bike path in the direction of the LA Zoo. "How do you not know your child is missing?" Andy said in a frustrated voice. Julio kept walking, looking along the river bank to see if he could find any source of struggle. "I don't know, Lieutenant" Julio said to Andy as he paused for a second to look at something. "What do you got, Julio?" asked Andy. "I'm not sure, sir. Something over here doesn't look right" Julio said as he pointed to the ground and then to the bushes along the river. Andy took a step closer. One of the bushes looked like it had been smashed. "Do you think this is where the kid went in?" Andy asked him. "It's possible" Julio said to him as Andy looked around at their location.

Andy took pictures of the area with his phone. He sent one of the pictures to Sharon via text message. 'We may have found the area where the kid went in the river' he sent with the picture of the damaged bush. Andy waited for Sharon to respond. Sharon looked at her phone lying on her desk as she was starting to do some paperwork for this case. She picked up her phone and saw the picture that Andy had sent. This child was pushed into the river, the picture showed it. She leaned back into her chair, contemplating what to do next. 'Notify SIS and have them process the area for any type of evidence we can find' Sharon responded to Andy. She placed her phone back on her desk.

Mike stood up from his desk. He had been on the phone with several police departments all along the river. He knocked on Sharon's door. "Come in" she said and Mike entered. "Uh, Captain, there has not been any missing reports of children matching the description of our victim" Mike said to Sharon. "Thank you Mike" Sharon said to him. "Robby Oderno is going to notify us if he hears or finds anything else that matches the description of our kid" Mike said to Sharon and she nodded her head. Not wanting to bother her anymore, Mike returned back to his desk. Sharon thought of something right then and called Mike back in to her office. "Mike?!" Sharon said and Mike returned. "Yes Captain?" Mike said. "Meet up with the rest of the team, they are by the Colorado Street exit on the bike path" Sharon said to him. "Julio and Andy may have found our entry point into the river" she added. "Sure Captain" Mike said and then left her office.

'Why wasn't anyone looking for this child?' Sharon thought to herself as she tried to comprehend what the circumstances around this could possibly be. Her desk phone rang, bringing Sharon out of her thoughts. "Captain Flynn" she said as she answered her phone. "Captain, Chief Howard. I was just informed by a certain Chief that you caught a case and are currently working it" Chief Howard said to her over the phone. Sharon huffed as she shook her head. 'Of course Winnie Davis would say something' Sharon thought. "Yes, Chief, we did catch a case. 13 year old boy found in the LA river. We are currently trying to determine the identity of the child, but so far, all we've hit are dead ends" Sharon explained to Chief Howard.

"I hate to do this to you Sharon, but our overtime budget is not what it used to be" Chief Howard started to say to Sharon. "Oh, no, you cannot shut us down here, Chief. I'm in the middle of an investigation" Sharon said, interrupting him. "Hang on a second, no one is shutting you down, Captain" Chief Howard said to her. "Well then what is happening here?" Sharon asked him as she removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was starting to get a headache. It had Winnie Davis's name written all over it.

"I'm just reminding you Captain, that the budget is not going to allow for a lot of overtime for your squad" Chief Howard stated. "Did Chief Davis remind you of that, sir?" Sharon asked Chief Howard and as soon as she said those words, she regretted them coming out of her mouth. "I'm sorry Chief, but I have a 13 year old boy who is laying in the morgue, and no one knows who this boy is. There was no identification found on him and no one has filed a missing person's report yet" Sharon sat there explaining to him over the phone. "I understand Captain, just try not to go in the red today, otherwise she be on both our backs, that's all I'm asking" Chief Howard said to Sharon.

"Fine sir" Sharon said to him. "I will budget accordingly and my team will leave at noon" Sharon added. "Sorry Captain" Chief Howard stated to her and then hung up. She hung up her phone as well. Now she was furious, especially with Winnie Davis sticking her nose in her investigation through other means. She then called Provenza on the phone and told him to bring everyone back to the office.

Provenza walked over to where the rest of the team was set up, just north of Colorado Street along the bike path. "Okay everyone listen up. Now the Captain just called me and she needs us all to come back to the office. Something about not going in the red today" Provenza said to the team. "What? Why would Sharon do that?" Andy said to Provenza. "I don't know Flynn, but it sounded like she was not happy with what she was telling me" Provenza said to Andy as they made their way back to the car. The team did what they were told and headed back to the PAB. Andy was determined to find out exactly what was going on. He pulled out his phone and called Sharon's number. "Hey, is everything alright?" Andy asked her when she answered her phone. "No, but I'll explain when you guys get back" Sharon said to Andy. Even though Andy did not like her answer, there was nothing more he could do or say. "Okay" he said to her. He wondered what went on while they were out in the field as they drove back to the office.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 5

To say that Sharon was furious was an understatement. 'How dare Winnie Davis stick her nose in my investigation' she thought to herself. She could not sit still so she was walking around her office. She leaned on the table that was in the corner and when that didn't calm her down, she moved over to the couch and sat down there. Just then, Rusty sent her a text message with a photo attached to it. Sharon looked at her phone, the frustration fading as she looked at the image that appeared of Matthew, Rusty and Moxie both lying upside down on the floor, imitating each other. Rusty must have taken a selfie. Rusty's message said 'Just hanging out'. She smiled at the photo and then heard a commotion coming from the Murder Room. She turned around to see the team entering the office.

"Why would she call us back, sir? We were finally able to locate the entry point to the river" Julio stated as he shook his head and sat down at his desk. "I don't know Julio, but I'm going to find out now" Provenza said and then made his way to Sharon's office. Provenza was furious as well as Andy tried to calm him down. "She said she would explain when we got back, so let her" Andy said to Provenza as he started to knock on her door. Sharon was already standing by the door when he knocked so she opened the door right away. "Yes?" she said as she opened the door. "Captain, mind telling us what the hell is going on here?" Provenza stated to her as she moved to the side, allowing for Provenza and Andy to walk inside her office. She then closed the door and moved to the front of her desk, leaning on the edge.

"I got a call from Chief Howard saying that our overtime budget is not what it used to be, and that I need to budget accordingly so that our team doesn't go into the red today" Sharon said as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Winnie Davis!" Provenza said in a huff. Andy looked at him. "This has her name written all over it, Captain" Provenza added in frustration. "Yes, Lieutenant, I agree. But why all of a sudden is she sticking her nose in our investigations? Why does the Chief of Operations care about the Major Crimes division?" Sharon asked them. Andy watched her and saw how frustrated she was becoming. "She's still holding that grudge against you" Andy said to her and Sharon looked up at him. "All this while?" Sharon pondered. Provenza looked at both of them and had a confused look on his face. "What are you two talking about?" Provenza asked them.

Andy looked at Sharon and she nodded to him. "Back when Sharon was in charge of FID, she investigated Winnie Davis for alleged misconduct" Andy explained to Provenza. "Ha, why didn't you just fire her back then!" Provenza stated to Sharon. "It wasn't that easy, Lieutenant" Sharon said to him. "The alleged misconduct was unfounded but I had relieved her of her duties while I conducted my investigation" Sharon added. "After Sharon's investigation concluded, Winnie Davis was reinstated as a Captain, which was her rank back when this happened" Andy said to Provenza. Provenza looked at Andy. "How come you know about this?" Provenza asked him. Andy glanced at Sharon and then sighed. "Because we were seeing each other back then" Andy said, revealing that him and Sharon had been involved with each other back when she was in FID. "You and Winnie?" Provenza asked. "No you idiot!" Andy said as he slapped his hand on Provenza's arm. Sharon covered her mouth as she let out a chuckle. "Sharon and I" Andy said to him. "Oh? Wait, when was this and where was I at?" Provenza asked them. Andy looked at him but before he could answer him, Sharon interrupted the conversation.

"Gentlemen, as much as I love walking down memory lane, need I remind you that we have an investigation with a 13 year old boy whom we don't have an identity on yet" Sharon said to them. "Not to mention, we have to pause our investigation because of an all of a sudden budget crisis" she added as she walked around her desk and sat down in her chair. Andy and Provenza watched her. "Now, could you say for certain that the picture that you sent me, Andy, is indeed the area in which the child entered the river?" Sharon asked Andy. "It looked that way, yes" Andy said to her. "It's been blocked off?" Sharon asked them. "Yes, Captain, we put up police tape around the area" Provenza answered her. Sharon glanced at the clock in her office. "Alright, we have an hour before I have to send everyone home at noon, please find me something" Sharon said to them. They nodded and then left her office.

Andy headed towards his desk but Provenza stopped him and then placed his arm on Andy's back leading him towards the break room. "Come on, you and I have something to discuss first" Provenza said to him. "You heard the Captain, we need to find her something with this case" Andy said in protest because he knew what Provenza wanted to discuss. "Oh, we will, but first I want you to tell me about the news you just dropped on me" Provenza said as they made their way to the break room. They walked into the break room, making sure it was empty. "All right, now talk" Provenza said to Andy. Andy lowered his head and then looked back up at Provenza. "There's nothing to talk about! Sharon and I saw each other back when she was in charge of FID, that's it" Andy said. "How come I didn't know about it?" Provenza asked him. "We were being discreet" Andy answered. "When?" Provenza asked simply. Andy let out a frustrated sigh before he answered. "Um, before we investigated Ally Moore for her" Andy said.

Provenza had a seat in one of the chairs. He could not believe that his friend had kept his relationship with the Captain a secret for all those years. "So, is that why the Captain was so nice to us when you got in your knife fight and saw you in the hospital back then?" Provenza asked him. Andy just looked at him and didn't say anything. "Okay, well that's definitely news, and I'm not going to push right now, but, once this case is over, you and I are going to sit down and talk about this" Provenza said as he stood up and pointed at Andy. Andy watched Provenza start walking towards the door. "Come on, let's go see if we can dig up something to keep this investigation going today" Provenza said as Andy walked out of the break room.

The team worked for another hour before Sharon walked out of her office and joined them at the Murder Board. "Do we have anything else?" Sharon asked them. "Um, ma'am Doctor Morales called a just now, besides the bruise on the kid's face, he took a look at the body again and discovered older bruises on the kid's back. He said they were faint so he didn't see them at first glance but after you and the Lieutenants left, he took a closer look" Julio said to Sharon. Sharon was looking at the Murder Board but then turned around when Julio mentioned older bruises. "This child was abused?" Sharon stated. "Looks that way" Julio said quietly. "He's faxing the report over" Julio added. Andy closed his eyes and shook his head. Sharon cleared her throat. "Anything else?" she asked as she looked at her team.

"No Captain" Mike said to her. "Robby Oderno said that if he hears anything remotely related to this 13 year old boy, he'll notify us immediately" Mike added as he leaned back in his chair. Sharon shook her head as she looked over the board again. "Okay, as much as I hate to say this, do to newly budget constraints, we need to cut our time here today" Sharon said as she looked at her watch. It was noon. Amy, Julio, and Mike all looked confused as to what was going on. "Captain?" Amy said. "Chief Davis is concerned that we will be going into the red today in our overtime budget, so we need to start back up Monday morning on this" Sharon explained. "But Captain" Julio started to say. "That's an order, detective" Sharon said and then she walked back in to her office.

"So we are really all supposed to go home while there's a dead kid in the morgue?" Julio stated to the team. "Hey, I don't like it any more than you do, but the Captain has her orders from Chief Howard" Andy said to Julio as he shrugged his shoulders. "This is ridiculous!" Julio stated. Amy nodded in agreement. "Alright, listen up, everybody!" Provenza shouted to the team as he stood up. "We can all grumble about this later, the Captain has to follow the orders given to her, she may not like it, just like we don't like it, but we have to do it. So, everyone go home, get some rest, and we'll come back Monday, unless something happens earlier, and tackle this case" Provenza said to the team and then glanced at Sharon, who was watching through the blinds in her office.

The team left to go home, as Andy waited for Sharon to be ready to leave as well. He knocked on her door and entered her office. Sharon quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before Andy entered. She was looking out her window, onto the streets of downtown. "Are you ready to go?" Andy asked her as he walked over to where she was standing. "We've never been asked to curb our investigations before due to overtime restrictions. Our victim was abused and I just sent my team home" Sharon said as Andy joined her, holding his hand. "That kid deserved better, Sharon. He didn't deserve what happened to him and I'm going to find out exactly what happened" Andy said to Sharon as he held her hand. "But, right now, our hands are tied due to Chief Davis barging in. So we have to figure out if she does this to other divisions when they catch a case on the weekend" Andy said to her. "Hmpf" Sharon said and wondered if Winnie Davis was singling the Major Crimes division out because of her. "I could find out for you, off the record of course" Andy said to her as she turned around to face him. "No, let's wait and see what else she does before we go that route" Sharon said to him as she started to gather her things and placed them inside her bag.

They left the office and headed down to the parking garage. Once inside their car, Sharon turned to Andy as he started to drive them home. "So, is Provenza still in shock over the bombshell that was dropped in my office earlier?" Sharon asked him. "Um, I'm not sure. He wanted to know when we saw each other back then" Andy said as he maneuvered the car around a pot hole and then stopped at a red light. "So what did you tell him?" Sharon asked as she closed her eyes. "Well, I told him before we helped in your investigation of Ally Moore" Andy said as he glanced at her. Sharon was leaning her head against the head rest. "I told him we were discreet back then and he wanted to know if that's why you were so nice to the squad at the hospital after I had gotten into my knife fight" Andy said as he continued to drive them home. "I'm sure that blew his mind back then" Sharon said to him as she looked out the window. "He said that he would drop it for now, but whenever we finish this case, he wants to sit down with me and discuss the matter" Andy said. Sharon smiled and just shook her head as Andy drove them home. "Well, we knew it was bound to come to light, sooner or later" Sharon said to him.

Andy pulled into their driveway and pressed the garage door opener in the car. He then pulled the car back in to the garage, and turned the vehicle off. Sharon paused a moment as Andy looked at her. "This just feels wrong, Andy" she whispered to him. "There's so many unanswered questions that we need to find out" she continued as Andy listened to her. Andy took a hold of her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. "Look, why don't I cancel the trip next weekend, we don't know how long this case is going to be now and" Andy started to say to Sharon but paused when she shook her head. "No, don't cancel anything just yet" Sharon said to him as she looked into his eyes. "Okay" Andy said as he nodded his head.

Matthew was outside playing with Moxie in the yard when he saw his parent's car pull up into the driveway and then pull into the garage. He was excited that they were home so he ran over to the garage and waited for them to walk out. When they didn't walk out, Matthew walked over to the passenger door and knocked on the window. Sharon turned her head and smiled, opening the door. "Hi" Matthew said as Sharon stepped out of the car. Andy got out and walked over to the other side to join them. "Hello sweetie" Sharon said as Matthew gave her a hug. "What are you doing out here?" she asked him as he pulled away. "Playing with Moxie in the yard" Matthew said as Sharon saw the dog wagging his tail at the garage door. Sharon walked out with Andy, holding his hand as they made their way through the back yard. Matthew ran ahead of them and Moxie chased him. "They're home Rusty!" Matthew said to Rusty, who was sitting on a chair in the yard.

"Hey, did you guys solve your case already?" Rusty said to them as they approached where he was sitting outside. "No, long story" Sharon said to Rusty as she sat down in the chair next to him. "Our case investigation got postponed until Monday morning" Andy said to Rusty as he joined them. "Why?" Rusty asked them. Sharon shook her head. Rusty knew that meant that she didn't want to talk about it. Rusty glanced over at Andy, who was watching Matthew play fetch with Moxie. Rusty decided to change the topic. "Matthew said he wanted to go swimming in the pool but I told him to wait till you guys got home" Rusty said to them. "Hmm, that's a good idea" Andy said as he glanced over at Sharon. Andy thought that if they went swimming, that would help ease her mind a little.

"Hey Matthew!" Andy called out to him and Matthew ran over to where they were sitting on the grass. "Yes?" Matthew said to Andy as he stood in front of him. "Rusty says that you asked if you could go swimming" Andy asked him. Matthew nodded his head to him. "Why don't you go inside, take Mom with you and get yourself ready. I'm going to check on the pool and make sure everything looks good before I change" Andy said to Matthew. Matthew smiled and then walked over to Sharon. "Come on Mom" Matthew said to her as he tugged on her hand. Sharon stood up from the chair and then started to make her way in to the house with Matthew. "Okay, I'll be right there" she said to him as she stopped and turned around towards Andy. He was already over at the pool pump, making sure everything was in working order. "I'll join you in a minute" Andy called to her and then she went inside the house.

Rusty walked over to where Andy was standing at the pool pump. "So this case that you guys caught this morning, rough one?" Rusty asked Andy. "You could say that. A 13 year old boy was found in the LA river, he drowned but not before he got punched by someone" Andy said to Rusty as he checked the chlorine level in the pool. Andy left out that the kid they found looked like he was abused. He didn't want to tell Rusty that fact as he looked over the pool. Everything seemed to be working properly and then Andy walked with Rusty back towards the house. "Mom's taking this one pretty hard then I guess" Rusty stated to Andy as they stopped before they got to the back door of the house. "She is" Andy said as he glanced into the house. "Why are you guys back home if it's an ongoing investigation?" Rusty asked him. Andy titled his head at Rusty and then looked at the ground. "Politics, Rusty" Andy said and then walked in to the house.

Andy went upstairs to change his clothes when he saw Sharon in their bedroom, wearing her black, polka dot swimsuit and a white, terry cloth wrap around her. She looked good in that swimsuit, but then again, she looked good in anything that she wore. She turned around and smiled at Andy as he walked into their room. "The pool's all ready, I'm just going to change" Andy said to her as he approached her. He ran his hands on the inside of her wrap and pulled her into a hug. Andy then kissed her forehead as she leaned into him. Matthew ran in to their room. "I'm ready!" he said to them and they pulled apart. "Okay, let me change into my swim shorts and we'll head down" Andy said to Matthew and then gave a wink to Sharon as he moved to their closet.

Five minutes later Andy walked out of their bathroom wearing swim shorts and a t-shirt. He saw Sharon and Matthew sitting on the edge of their bed waiting for him. "Ready?" Andy said to Matthew and Sharon. Matthew jumped up and ran down the stairs. Andy waited for Sharon and they walked down the stairs. "It's nice to see him so excited about the little things" Sharon said to Andy as they made their way down towards the kitchen. "You okay?" Andy said, his hand gently rubbing her back as they walked out of the house. Matthew was already waiting at the gate to the pool with Moxie when they stepped outside. "I just wish we were able to get ahead this morning with this case. There's more to it and we can't see what it is because of Chief Davis and her "budget"" Sharon said to Andy as Andy pulled her in as they walked over to the pool and kissed her hair. "You brought the papers home with you, right?" Andy asked her as they stopped before meeting up with Matthew. "Yes" Sharon said to him as she looked at Matthew. "So, we relax here for a while and then afterwards, you and I will go over everything you brought home, okay?" Andy said to her as he moved her chin to face him. "We're going to solve this case Sharon, despite Winnie Davis's attempts to railroad us" Andy said to her and kissed her lips.

They walked over to where Matthew was standing at the gate and Andy reached over and unlocked it. Matthew ran over to one of the chairs by the pool. "Matthew, no running please!" Sharon called out to him. Matthew stopped. "Sorry" he said to her. Rusty then came out from his apartment over the garage and joined Sharon and Moxie by the pool. Andy had already jumped in and he was waiting for Matthew to do the same. Matthew was standing on the edge of the pool, contemplating what to do. "Come on Matthew, I'll catch you" Andy said to him. "Promise?" Matthew said. "I promise" Andy said as he held out his hands. Matthew hesitated but then jumped in and Andy caught him, making a big splash in the pool. Sharon was sitting in one of the lounge chairs watching Andy and Matthew in the pool and a smile was on her face. 'Perhaps Andy is right and I should relax and enjoy this moment' Sharon thought to herself. She knew that the next couple of days were going to be hard dealing with this horrific case that they had caught this morning.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 6

Sharon ended up joining Matthew and Andy in the pool after sitting on the deck for a little while. Sharon was a great swimmer and she was helping Matthew learn how to swim. Matthew caught on quickly and was swimming around the pool pretty well. Matthew was getting tired so he climbed out of the pool using the ladder with Andy's help and he then wrapped a towel around himself and sat down on the deck with Moxie. Andy swam over to where Sharon was in the pool and stood next to her. They had been out there for a couple of hours now and the temperature outside was starting to cool off a little. "I'm worried about you" Andy said in a whisper to Sharon. Sharon looked at Andy and saw the concern in his eyes. She gave him a little smile and caressed his face with her hand. "I'm fine, Andy" she said to him.

They stayed outside a little longer after both Sharon and Andy stepped out of the pool. Matthew was telling Rusty about the trip that Sharon and Andy were taking him on the following weekend. "Hey that's really cool Matthew" Rusty said to him. "Yeah, but Moxie is not coming with us" Matthew said to him in a sad voice. "You'll only be gone for three days, I'm sure Moxie will be just fine" Rusty said to Matthew, reassuring him. "Yes, speaking of that, Rusty, we were wondering if you'd be able to watch Moxie here while we go on that trip" Sharon said to Rusty. "Unless you have plans for next weekend" Andy chimed in on the conversation. "I was just going to go to the library to work on a project. Gus is working all weekend so that's all I have" Rusty said to them. "So, is that a yes?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, I'll watch Moxie" Rusty answered Sharon. "Thank you" Sharon said to Rusty.

After the four of them had dinner, Rusty left to go out with Gus. Matthew was sitting in the hallway between the kitchen and the stairs, reading one of his books with Moxie laying down next to him. Andy and Sharon were in the den, going over the file and paperwork Sharon had brought home with them this afternoon. "This kid was 13 years old, he had to go to school somewhere in the area" Andy said to Sharon as he was reading the report from Doctor Morales. "True, but Andy, we don't even know where this child is from" Sharon said to Andy as she sat at the desk, thinking about the case. "What exactly happened here, and who abused him" Sharon said as she looked over the pictures that were taken of the crime scene. Andy looked up from the report and watched Sharon as she glanced over the pictures.

Matthew was done reading and wanted to see what his parents were doing so he walked over to where they were sitting in the den and entered. "What are you doing in here?" Matthew asked them. "We are going over some notes from work, Matthew" Sharon said to him as she closed the file folder so Matthew didn't see anything. Matthew walked over to Sharon and leaned up against her. "I'm so tired" Matthew said in a sigh. Andy watched him. "Why don't you go get ready for bed then?" Andy suggested to Matthew. "I'm too tired to climb the stairs" Matthew said in a whiney voice. Sharon chuckled and then started to get up out of her chair which made Matthew move. "Come on, I'll go upstairs with you. You need to take a shower or a bath anyway to rinse all of the pool water off of you from this afternoon" Sharon said to Matthew. "But I just took a bath yesterday" Matthew said to Sharon as they left the room. "I know, and I'm telling you to take one again. It can be a quick shower" Sharon said to Matthew as they walked up the stairs. Andy smiled as they left but that smile was short lived when he turned his attention back to the case they had caught.

'Why wasn't anyone reporting this child as missing?' Andy thought to himself as he started to write down possible reasons. The fact that this kid was abused made Andy's blood boil. He knew that when they caught the person who had done this, he was going to have a difficult time controlling his emotions. But, he knew that he would have to try, for the sake of his health, and for Sharon's sake as well. He heard the shower start to run upstairs so he knew Sharon was going to be a while with Matthew before she came back downstairs. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the desk where Sharon was sitting and looked at the pictures again.

Andy was particularly looking at the body after it was discovered. He was looking at the clothing the kid was wearing. Something about the clothing looked familiar to him. He started at the photo and then he saw it. The shirt that the boy was wearing looked similar to the shirt that Matthew wears to school. He saw that there was an insignia on the left hand side of the shirt, but it was too small for him to read it. He placed the picture down and looked through the drawers of the desk for a magnifying glass. He found one and then used it to get a better look at the insignia. "Shit!" Andy said out loud to no one. The insignia belonged to St. Anne's School, the same school that Matthew attends. 'Why didn't we see that in the first place' Andy thought to himself.

Andy ran upstairs to where Sharon was sitting in the bathroom, waiting for Matthew to be done with the shower. "Sharon, I found something. I don't know why we didn't see it in the first place" Andy said as he was holding the magnifying glass and the picture of the kid. Sharon took the picture and magnifying glass from Andy and focused on where Andy was pointing to on the picture. She saw it and read the insignia on the shirt. "St. Anne's" Sharon said. Andy nodded his head. "This kid went to Matthew's school" Andy said to her, but not loud enough for Matthew to hear him. Sharon and Andy looked at each other. "I'm done!" Matthew said to Sharon. Sharon stood up and handed the picture and magnifying glass back to Andy and then turned the shower off for Matthew. She handed him a towel and dried him off. Matthew stepped out of the tub. "Put your pajamas on now. I'll just be outside the door with Daddy" Sharon said to Matthew. "Okay" Matthew said and he started to get dressed. Sharon closed the door to the bathroom behind her.

"Why didn't we catch this before?" Sharon asked Andy as they stood in the upstairs hallway. "I don't know" Andy answered her. Sharon stood there thinking about what they could do. "We could ask Matthew if he knows the kid" Andy said to her and she gave him a look. "No, I won't subject him to looking at this child's picture, Andy" Sharon said to him as Matthew opened the door of the bathroom and walked out. "If you want to ID the kid, Sharon, this might be the only way" Andy said as he gestured to Matthew who joined them in the hallway. Sharon looked at Andy and then at Matthew and sighed. Matthew walked past them and went in to his room. Sharon followed Matthew in to his room, Andy right behind her. Sharon hated to show Matthew the picture of the child that was found this morning but if he did go to St. Anne's school, maybe Matthew has seen him before.

"Matthew, Daddy and I need a favor from you" Sharon started to say to Matthew. "What is it?" Matthew asked. "We need you to look at a picture of a kid, and let us know if you can identify him for us" Andy said to Matthew as Sharon watched him. "Okay" Matthew shrugged at the request. "This picture might be hard to look at" Sharon said to Matthew. "It's okay Mommy, I can help you" Matthew said to Sharon. Sharon nodded and then showed the picture to Matthew. Matthew looked at the picture. "That's Dominick" Matthew said to them. Sharon turned around to look at Andy. "Dominick?" Andy said to Matthew. "Yes, that's the kid that was making fun of Jimmy yesterday on the playground" Matthew said to them.

Sharon looked back at Matthew. "Do you know his last name?" Sharon asked him. Matthew shook his head no. "You did great, Matthew. Thank you" Andy said to him as he patted him on the back. "What happened to him?" Matthew asked them. "We're trying to figure that out, sweetie" Sharon said to him as he climbed on the bed. Sharon pulled the covers back for him and then he settled in for the night. "Where's Moxie?" Matthew yawned. "We'll make sure he comes up here, buddy" Andy said to Matthew as they tucked him in. "Good night" Matthew said to them. "Good night" Andy and Sharon both said to him and then they exited his room, closing the door behind them.

Sharon let out a deep breath she was holding since Matthew ID'd the child they had found. Andy pulled her in to a hug and held her for a moment. "I hated doing that" Sharon said to Andy. "I know, but now we have a name, or at least a first name of the kid" Andy said to Sharon as she pulled away from him. He knew that she was uneasy asking Matthew to look at the picture but they were running out of options. Sharon went back downstairs and Andy followed her. She sat back down behind the desk in the den and Andy stood behind her. "What are you doing?" he asked her as she went through the top drawer and pulled a book out. "St. Anne's gives parents of their students a list of all of the children that attend with their parent's information so that it's easier to get a hold of someone" Sharon said as she paged through the booklet. She found the 8th grade section and started going through the names, looking for a 'Dominick'. "Here" she said to Andy as she pointed at the entry. "Dominick Hererra" Andy said.

Andy pulled out his phone and dialed Provenza's number. "Flynn, this better be good on a Saturday night" Provenza said as he answered his phone. "We just ID'd the kid that was found this morning" Andy said to him as he looked at Sharon. "What? Uh, how'd you do that? This morning we couldn't find anything on him" Provenza said to Andy. "Yeah, yeah, listen, Sharon brought home the file of the case and tonight we were going over it. She took Matthew upstairs and I was looking through the pictures that Buzz took of the kid when he was pulled out of the river" Andy said to Provenza. "The kid was wearing a uniform shirt from St. Anne's School" Andy added. "Okay, St. Anne's, so?" Provenza said. "Matthew's school" Andy said to him. "Oh geeze" Provenza muttered. "Matthew ID'd the kid as Dominick. The same kid who was bullying a kid in Matthew's class Friday afternoon on the playground" Andy explained. "Do you have a last name?" Provenza asked him. "Hererra, Sharon looked it up in a booklet we got from the school that lists every kid that attends the school and also their parents" Andy said as he looked at what Sharon showed him in the booklet.

"Does the Captain want us to notify the parents?" Provenza asked Andy. "Do you want us to notify the parents?" Andy asked Sharon as she sat at the desk, still looking at the pictures. "If this child was abused at their home, we need to figure out if there are more children in the house" Sharon said as she paged through the booklet, looking for any siblings to Dominick. "Flynn, let me talk to the Captain" Provenza said over the phone. Andy handed his phone to Sharon. "He wants to talk to you" Andy said to her. "Lieutenant?" Sharon said in to the phone. "Captain, why don't we get the team together, head over to the house to do a well-being check. If this kid was abused, it has to be from a parent there" Provenza said to Sharon. Sharon thought about what he said. "We can always ask for forgiveness after the fact if you're worried about the budget" Provenza added when he didn't hear anything from Sharon. "Okay, notify everyone, we'll text you the address. Give us a few minutes to find someone to stay here with Matthew first" Sharon said to Provenza. "Yes, Captain" Provenza said and then Sharon hung up the phone and handed it back to Andy.

"Want me to call Nicole and ask her?" Andy said to Sharon as she stood up from her chair. She glanced at her watch, it was ten o'clock. If they did notify the parents tonight, and one of them was the abuser, they could be headed into a very long night. "I hate to do that but I don't think we have a choice here since Rusty is still out with Gus" Sharon said to Andy. Andy dialed Nicole's number and waited for her to pick up. "Dad? Is everything okay?" Nicole said as she answered her phone. "Uh, hi sweetheart. Sharon and I caught a case this morning and we just got a new lead in it and have to head out soon, we were wondering if it was possible to watch Matthew" Andy said to his daughter. "Sure, that's not a problem" Nicole said. "Oh, okay, good. Uh, we can drop him off at your house on our way out" Andy said to her. "Okay, Dad, see you in a couple of minutes then" Nicole said to Andy and then hung up her phone.

"I'd hate to wake him but we're going to have to" Sharon said to Andy as they made their way back upstairs. "I'll get him. You get yourself ready" Andy told Sharon as he opened Matthew's door. Sharon nodded and went into their bedroom to quickly change her clothes and get her badge and gun. Andy walked over to Matthew's bed and gently woke him up. "Hey Matthew, come on buddy you got to get up" Andy said to him. Matthew woke up. "What's going on?" he said in a sleepy voice. "Mommy and I need to go to work so we are going to take you over to Nicole's house. You're going to stay there with them until we are finished" Andy said to Matthew as he helped him get out of bed. "Can I bring my pillow with me?" Matthew asked as he saw Andy pack a small duffle bag. "Sure" Andy said as he placed a change of clothes for him in the duffle bag. They walked out of his room. "Okay, I want you to wait right here for Mommy, okay?" Andy said to Matthew and Matthew nodded his head. Andy then went to their bedroom and got himself ready.

Sharon texted Provenza as they got into their car and informed him they were dropping off Matthew at Nicole's house first before heading towards the last known address of Dominick's house. "What's wrong?" Andy asked her as he drove over to Nicole's house. "I think we should notify Chief Howard about this, I don't want him to get blindsided" Sharon said as she held her phone in her hands. "Sharon, we are doing our job. He'll understand that" Andy said to her as he pulled down Nicole's street. "He's not the one I'm worried about" Sharon said to him as they pulled into the driveway of Nicole's house. Sharon pulled up Chief Howard's name on her phone and called him as Andy took Matthew out of the car and walked him up to Nicole's house.

"Hi Dad, Hi Matthew" Nicole said to them as she answered the door. "Thanks for letting him stay here" Andy said to Nicole. "Not a problem, Dad" she said to him. "This case we caught this morning, pretty rough" Andy said as Nicole glanced behind him at Sharon sitting in the car. Matthew walked inside the house. "He can spend the night here, Dad, don't worry about that" Nicole said to him as she watched Matthew join Colin and Avery in the family room. Andy nodded. "We got to go. Thanks again sweetheart" Andy said as he kissed Nicole's cheek and then went back to their car. As he got in, Sharon turned to him. "We got his blessing to move forward. He said he would handle Winnie Davis on that end if need be" Sharon said to him as they drove away. "How do you want to approach this when we arrive?" Andy said to her. "Let's see if they will let us inside first" Sharon said as they drove to the address.

Andy pulled up behind Provenza's car and they got out to meet everyone there. "Lieutenant" Sharon said to Provenza. "Captain, Mike was able to run both parents in our system before we arrived" Provenza said to her as she stood next to him. "No priors for either of them" Mike said to her. "Okay, there's no other siblings in the house" Sharon said to them. "Let's do a knock and talk and see how it progresses" Sharon said to the team and then they made their way to the house in question.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 7

Provenza walked up to the front door of the house with Julio and Andy at his side and knocked on the door. Julio looked through the front side window. "The lights are on, sir" Julio said. "Somebody's home" he added and Provenza knocked again. "LAPD!" Andy said out loud. They waited and Andy glanced over at Sharon, Mike, and Amy who were waiting behind them. "I hear something" Amy said to them and then the front door opened. "Yeah, what do you want?" Mr. Herrera stated to them, in a slurred voice. Andy and Provenza looked at each other. "Mr. Herrera, I'm Lieutenant Provenza, this is Lieutenant Flynn, LAPD" Provenza said to the man. Mr. Herrera looked at them and then behind them at the rest of the team. "Are you the father of Dominick Herrera?" Provenza asked him.

"What did he do now?" Mr. Herrera asked them, still exhibiting signs of being drunk. "Mr. Herrera, are you currently drunk?" Andy asked him. "Drinking in your own house isn't against the law, is it officer?" Mr. Herrera stated. "No, no it's not" Provenza said to him. "Do you know where your son is?" Andy asked him. "I haven't seen him since last night" Mr. Herrera stated to them as he was fidgeting back and forth at the door. "Look, do you mind telling me what's going on here?" Mr. Herrera asked them. Andy looked at the man and noticed his knuckles on his right hand were all bruised and bloodied. "What happened to your hand?" Andy asked him. Mr. Herrera looked down at his hand and then back up at Andy. "I punched something last night" he answered which made it harder for Andy to keep his cool.

"Sir, is your wife home?" Provenza asked him. "No" Mr. Herrera replied but then they heard shuffling coming from behind Mr. Herrera. "Who's at the door?" Mrs. Herrera said as she came from another room towards the door. Andy and Julio glanced over at the wife who appeared from behind Mr. Herrera and noticed she had a black eye. "Mr. Herrera can you please step outside for a moment?" Provenza asked him. Mr. Herrera shook his head. "No" he said to him. "Do you like beating people up, is that how you hurt your hand?" Andy said to him and the guy stumbled taking a swing at Andy. Andy caught the guy and with the help of Julio, pushed the guy back inside the house and held him against the wall. "You can't come in here!" Mr. Herrera screamed. "Shut up! It's called extenuating circumstances bozo" Andy said to him as he held him against the wall while Julio patted the man down. Julio pulled a knife from the man's back pocket of his pants. He handed the knife to Mike as Provenza, Sharon, and Amy entered the house.

"Mrs. Herrera, I'm Captain Sharon Flynn, LAPD. How did you get your bruise on your face?" Sharon asked the woman. She looked over at her husband and then looked down at her feet. "Did your husband beat you, Mrs. Herrera?" Sharon asked her but she didn't answer. "Did he beat up Dominick?" Sharon asked. Mrs. Herrera picked her head up and looked at Sharon. "Where did Dominick go, Mrs. Herrera?" Sharon asked her. "He left last night, I thought he was going to a friend's house. He usually did that on Fridays" she told Sharon. "He doesn't mean to beat me up, he just has too much to drink and is stressed from work. He doesn't hit me when he's sober, you have to believe me" Mrs. Herrera said to Sharon as Sharon glanced over at Andy and Julio who had Mr. Herrera handcuffed and standing against the wall. "Don't tell them anything!" Mr. Herrera yelled at his wife. Sharon nodded to Andy who then walked the guy out to one of the cars with Julio. Julio opened the back seat and Andy shoved the guy inside. "Have a seat" he told him.

Julio read the man his rights as he sat in the back seat of the car. "You like beating up your wife and kid? Make you feel all powerful, does it?" Andy said to the guy as he leaned in to the car. "I want a lawyer, this is police brutality!" Mr. Herrera claimed. "Shut up!" Andy said to him as he walked back to the house. Mike stayed out there with Julio to keep an eye on Mr. Herrera.

"Mrs. Herrera, we can help you" Sharon said to her as they sat on the couch. Sharon placed her arm on her shoulder. "I don't know where Dominick went after Robert beat him last night" she said to Sharon and Sharon glanced over at Amy, Provenza, and Andy. Andy walked out to meet Mike and Julio. He was walking with a purpose. "What did the wife say?" Mike asked him. "She said that this piece of crap beat up the kid last night" Andy said in a furious tone. Provenza caught up to Andy. "Flynn! Don't do anything stupid!" Provenza yelled after him as Andy was about to open the back door of the car. Andy wanted to drag this guy out of the car and beat him but Sharon would not be pleased with that, plus that would play right into Winnie Davis. Instead, Andy just stared at the guy sitting in the back seat and took a deep breath.

"Mrs. Herrera, he is not your husband when he drinks like that. If he beats you, you don't need to be afraid. You let us know that he beat up Dominick last night, and that took a lot of courage to do so. We need to tell you something, and it may be difficult to hear" Sharon said to her as she glanced at Amy. Mrs. Herrera looked at Sharon and then at Amy. "What is it? Did something happen to Dominick?" Mrs. Herrera asked them, tears forming in her eyes. "Dominick was found this morning in the LA river" Sharon said to her and Mrs. Herrera took a deep breath. "No, No, not my baby" Mrs. Herrera said as she started to cry. Sharon placed her arm around the woman. "Mrs. Herrera, Mrs. Herrera?" Sharon said to her but the woman was still crying. "How long has he been beating you?" Amy asked her this time. Mrs. Herrera shook her head. "A couple of years, on and off, only when he gets drunk" she answered Amy. Sharon sighed, took a deep breath and looked over at Amy.

Sharon then stood up from the couch as Amy spoke to the woman and went to speak with Provenza and Andy. As she made her way outside, she saw Andy staring at the father through the car window. "Lieutenant Provenza?" Sharon said as she walked down the two steps from the door. Provenza glanced at Andy and then walked back to join Sharon. "Yes Captain?" Provenza said to her. She glanced over at Andy and then turned her attention to Provenza. "Book Mr. Herrera for assault charges and domestic battery, throw in attempted assault on a police officer as well" Sharon said to him. "We should be arresting him for murdering his son, Captain" Provenza interjected. "One step at a time, Lieutenant. We need to see if there was intent for murder first" Sharon said to him. "He lawyered up after he was read his rights" Provenza added and Sharon nodded her head, as she watched Andy.

Provenza knew Sharon wanted to ask what occurred before she came out of the house. "He's fine Captain. I stopped him before he ended up doing something stupid" Provenza said to Sharon as she was watching Andy pace back and forth along the street. "Take Mr. Herrera down to the station, Lieutenant. Mrs. Herrera is also coming with us. I want a social worker to speak with her" Sharon said to Provenza and then walked over to where Andy was standing, a few feet away from the car that held Mr. Herrera.

"Andy?" she said to him quietly as she placed her hand on his left arm. "How could he do that to his own kid?" Andy said to her. Sharon shook her head. "I never hit my ex-wife or kids when I drank back then" Andy said in frustration. "I know" Sharon said barely above a whisper as she looked at him. "Drinking makes people do things they shouldn't, you know that more than anybody" she said to him as she squeezed his hand. Andy looked at Sharon as she spoke to him. "Andy, I need you to focus. We need to search their house for any type of evidence that would help our case out" Sharon said to Andy. Andy moved his neck to stretch it and then nodded in agreement. Andy watched as Julio and Mike drove Mr. Herrera down to the station to book him, where he would spend the night or two in the cell getting sober. Provenza followed in his car, leaving Sharon, Andy, Amy, and Buzz at the house with Mrs. Herrera.

Andy walked behind Sharon back inside the house and joined Amy and Buzz in the living room. "Mrs. Herrera, could we see where Dominick's room is?" Sharon asked her as they stepped towards the couch where she was still sitting. "It's down the hall to the left" Mrs. Herrera said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Amy stayed with the mom as Sharon, Andy, and Buzz made their way to the room. As they searched the room, looking for clues, Sharon came across a notebook that looked to be written in a child's handwriting. She paged through the notebook, reading it. "Oh my god" Sharon said out loud and Andy turned around where he was standing, looking through the kid's closet while Buzz was filming the kid's room. "What is it?" Andy said to Sharon. "Pages and pages of abuse writings, drawings" Sharon said to Andy as she showed him some of the pages in the notebook. "No wonder the kid was a bully at school, he was getting bullied here by his father" Andy said to Sharon.

They gathered the evidence and after Buzz was done filming, they left the house with Mrs. Herrera and headed back to the PAB. "Mrs. Herrera, please have a seat inside. I'm going to call someone who will be able to help you" Sharon said to her as she closed the door to the conference room. Sharon then walked to the desks where the team was at. "Amy, call social services, they should have someone on call, see if they can come to speak with Mrs. Herrera" Sharon said to Amy as she made her way to look at the Murder Board. It was updated with the latest information that they received, and included Mr. Herrera's picture.

"Captain, Mr. Herrera has been booked and is going to be in holding till Monday morning" Provenza said to Sharon as he sat at his desk. "Good, that will give us time to build the case against him" Sharon said as she turned around to the team. Andy leaned up against a desk with his arms folded. Julio sat at his desk. Mike and Buzz went over the video in the electronics room. Amy was still on the phone with social services. Sharon glanced at her watch. It was well after midnight.

Amy was able to get a hold of a case worker with social services and they came out to speak with Mrs. Herrera. Sharon watched as she spoke to the case worker in the conference room. The case worker turned around and nodded to Sharon. Sharon and Amy then joined them in the conference room. "Mrs. Herrera, I hope Jenny was able to give you some places to stay tonight" Sharon said as she looked at her. "I did, Captain, and informed her that this one, has a spot for her tonight. I can take her there" Jenny said to Sharon as Sharon glanced at the table. "Mrs. Herrera, before you leave tonight, we need to interview you" Sharon said to her. "Am I under arrest?" Mrs. Herrera asked Sharon. "No, we just need a statement" Sharon said to her as the rest of the team watched in electronics.

"See, it's always the husband" Provenza said as he sat in the chair in electronics watching the interview. "You're a little too late with saying that since we already arrested the husband" Andy said to Provenza and Provenza glanced back at him. He then turned around to watch the interview. Sharon and Amy got a statement from Mrs. Herrera and then she and the social worker, Jenny, walked out of the room. "Thank you Captain, Detective" Jenny said as she left with Mrs. Herrera. Sharon took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. The team walked out of the electronics room and joined Sharon and Amy by the Murder Board. Sharon stared at the board, and looked over the pictures on it. "Uh, Captain?" Provenza said as he walked over to her. Sharon turned to him. "Why don't we call it a night, start fresh Monday morning with Mr. Herrera's interview. It seems to be open and shut now. That would satisfy the budget as well, keeping you know who at bay" Provenza said to Sharon.

Sharon thought about what Provenza was saying to her and agreed. "Ok, everyone go home, see you Monday morning" Sharon said to the team and then walked to her office. Everyone left and Andy waited, standing outside her office as she took her time, and gathered her things. She joined him outside her office and they left to head towards their car. "Since it's late, we can pick up Matthew tomorrow morning, before church" Andy said as they walked to their car. "Does Nicole know about that?" Sharon asked him as he held her door open for her to get in the car. "I told her that it was a possibility when we brought him over there, she was fine with it" Andy said to Sharon and then made his way over to the driver's side and got in. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Nicole, informing her that they would pick Matthew up tomorrow morning before they went to church. Nicole didn't respond but Andy knew that they were probably all sleeping there and put his phone back in his pocket, quickly glancing over at Sharon. Her head was leaned back against the headrest and Andy pulled out of the parking garage.

Andy drove them home and when they arrived at their house, Sharon was already sleeping in the front passenger seat. Andy lightly touched her shoulder, waking her up. "Come on Sharon, we're home" Andy said to her. He helped her out of the car and walked with her, holding her close, to the house. He opened the back door, and Sharon proceeded to walk inside and head upstairs. "I'll meet you up there" she said to Andy as he took Moxie outside. Sharon made her way up the stairs and into their bedroom. She wanted to wash the images out of her head from Dominick's notebook that she looked at earlier. She made her way to their closet and got undressed and slipped on her robe. She then walked over to the bathroom, and started running water to take a shower.

Andy came back inside the house with Moxie and heard the water running upstairs. He made sure everything was locked before he headed upstairs to join Sharon. Moxie followed him upstairs and went into their room with Andy. Andy heard the shower running and he wanted to join Sharon inside. He made his way into the bathroom and quickly got undressed. He saw Sharon's figure through the glass door and opened the door, revealing Sharon standing there crying. He stepped inside the shower and closed the door behind him. He took her into his arms and held her close. He was feeling so many things and his heart ached for Sharon. "Shh, it's okay" he whispered to her in her ear as he continued to hold her close to him. "Make me forget" Sharon said to him in a whisper as she looked into his eyes. They were dark with sorrow, anger, and love all mixed in to one. "Sharon?" he said to her. She shook her head. "Make me forget all of those images" she said again in a whisper. Andy pulled her in and kissed her passionately as he held her under the shower spray. He caressed her body as they stood in the shower. Andy took her bottle of shower gel, squirted some into his hands and gently washed her body.

After they washed each other, Andy pulled Sharon in for another passionate kiss. It had been a while since they made love in the shower, but Andy took his time with Sharon. After the water started to cool off, Andy shut the water off and looked at Sharon. Her eyes held his gaze and told him all the pain she had held for their latest victim. He caressed her face with his hands. "I love you" he whispered to her. He then stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her as she stepped out behind him. He then wrapped a towel around his waist and helped dry her off. Making their way to their bed, Sharon laid down first and Andy followed. He removed their towels and kissed her again. They made love again, this time in their bed, and afterwards, Andy held Sharon close to him as they drifted off to sleep.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 8

Sharon woke up, still being held close to Andy's body by his arms, and wondered what time it was. She thought it must be morning as she could see the sun's rays starting to peek through the shades of the window. She laid there quietly so that she didn't disturb Andy, whom she still thought was asleep. She thought about Mr. Herrera and how had he beaten up his wife and child. The battered wife syndrome that Mrs. Herrera was coping with. What pain Dominick was going through as he lived there, constantly being beaten by his dad, and his only outlet was the notebook he kept every day. Andy said to her that no wonder the boy was a bully at school, he was being bullied at home. Sharon took a deep breath. "I can hear you thinking" Andy said to Sharon as he laid there with her. "I didn't know you were awake" she said to him as she moved in his arms. He was running lazy circles up and down her back and she smiled into his chest.

"How long have you been up?" she asked him as she propped herself up to look at him. "Um, about an hour or so" Andy confessed to her. She leaned down and kissed him. "Why didn't you wake me?" Sharon asked him. "Because you were sleeping and I enjoyed just holding you in my arms" Andy said to her. "So what time is it?" Andy asked her. She glanced over at the clock. "7 am" she whispered back to him. She then leaned over the side of the bed to see where Moxie was sleeping. She found him sleeping at the foot of the bed, on the floor. Sharon started to get out of bed, but Andy grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back down into his chest. "No, please stay just a little bit longer" Andy begged Sharon. Sharon smiled and shook her head slightly. "We have no one to wake us up early, the dog is still sleeping, and it's Sunday morning" Andy said to Sharon as she was looking down at his head as she laid on top of him.

The two of them laid there for another hour just holding, caressing, and kissing each other. Sharon started to get out of bed, and she turned around to grab Andy's hand and bring him with her. Sharon lead Andy to the bathroom where she started running water for their shower. She stepped inside the shower and Andy followed her. They washed each other's bodies and then Andy rinsed them both off. Sharon stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. She handed a towel to Andy and he did the same. Sharon made her way to their closet to pick out an outfit for church. She then went back in to the bathroom and got herself ready. Andy decided that he was not going to shave this morning and then made his way to their closet to pick out a suit.

Once they were ready, they both came downstairs, and Moxie followed them. Andy took Moxie out and then fed him his breakfast. Sharon and Andy both had a bowl of cereal for breakfast that morning. Andy's phone alerted him to a text message. 'Matthew just woke up now with the boys. He could be ready for you in an hour' said Nicole's message. "Matthew just got up. Nicole said she could get him ready in an hour, just in time for church" Andy said to Sharon. They went through the rest of their morning and then left to go pick up Matthew at Nicole's house.

Andy and Sharon pulled up in the driveway of Nicole and Dean's house and both of them got out of the car. Sharon held Andy's hand as they walked up the walkway to the front door. Sharon pushed the door bell and a few seconds later, Nicole answered the door. "Morning Sharon, Morning Dad" Nicole said as she opened the door. "Good morning, Nicole. I hope he wasn't any trouble for you and Dean" Sharon said to Nicole as they walked inside the house. "Oh no, no problems. Matthew is just the sweetest and kindest boy. He'll do anything you ask him to. And doesn't complain or give you a hard time" Nicole said to both Sharon and Andy. The two of them glanced at each other as they proceeded to where all three of the boys were in the kitchen, eating breakfast. "Hi Matthew" Andy said to Matthew as he was sitting at the table. "Mommy! Dad!" Matthew said to them as he ate his cereal, giving them a wave. Sharon waved back. Avery and Colin were very excited to see their grandparents. Avery stood up from the table and rushed over to Andy and Sharon, giving them both a hug.

"Are you staying for breakfast?" Avery asked Sharon as he gave her a hug. "Oh, no we're not. Maybe another time" she said to Avery and then Avery went back to the table to finish his breakfast. Matthew was all done and he got up and placed his bowl in the kitchen sink. Andy walked over to him and placed his hand at his back. "Are you all packed and ready?" he asked Matthew. "Uh huh" Matthew said to Andy and then he ran upstairs to get his duffle bag and pillow. "Thank you again, sweetheart. Both Sharon and I really appreciated it" Andy said to Nicole as Sharon was talking with Avery and Colin. "Dad, it was no problem, anytime you need something, especially with Matthew" Nicole said to Andy. Andy nodded his head and gave his daughter a smile. Matthew came back downstairs carrying his pillow and duffle bag. "I'm all ready" he said to them.

Andy, Sharon, and Matthew left Nicole and Dean's house and drove to their church that they attended. As Sharon sat in the pew next to Andy, her thoughts went back to Dominick. She concentrated on the readings to try to clear her mind for the moment but a tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away. Andy saw this in the corner of his eye and watched her. He leaned over and whispered to her. "Are you okay?" he asked as he continued to hold her hand. She nodded her head and they continued to listen to what the priest was saying.

When church was over, Sharon and Andy were walking back to the car while Matthew ran a little ahead of them. A car suddenly stopped right before Matthew crossed the parking lot, which put Sharon in a panic. "Matthew!" she yelled at him as she and Andy caught up to him. She grabbed Matthew's hand and pulled him back towards her. "You can't go running off like that, especially in a parking lot" she said to him. "Sorry" Matthew said to her avoiding eye contact with Sharon. Andy waved for the car to go ahead and then glanced over at Matthew and Sharon. Matthew looked a little shaken up but he seemed all right. "Come on, let's go home" Andy said to Sharon and Matthew, hoping that would break the current franticness of Sharon. Sharon turned and held Matthew's hand now as they walked to their car.

The drive home was silent. Sharon didn't say anything, she just kept looking out the window. Matthew held his pillow in front of him and looked out the window as well. Andy glanced at Sharon and was going to say something but decided against it. They arrived back home and Andy pulled the car in the garage. Matthew waited for Sharon to get out of the car before he did. Andy walked around the car and helped Matthew with his bag as he got out. Sharon was walking ahead of them towards the house. "I'm sorry I ran ahead like that" Matthew said to Andy. "It's okay buddy. But next time, you're going to hold on to one of our hands, got it?" Andy said to him and Matthew nodded his head in agreement. "Is she mad at me?" Matthew asked Andy as they walked towards the house. Andy watched Sharon as she unlocked the back door and stepped inside the house, not waiting for them. "No, she's not mad at you" Andy said reassuring Matthew as they stepped inside the house.

"Why don't you go up to your room and play in there for a while, okay?" Andy said to Matthew as they walked in to the kitchen. Sharon was standing at the kitchen sink, rinsing the dishes that they left earlier. "Okay, come on Moxie" Matthew said and Moxie followed him upstairs. Andy sighed as he watched Matthew leave and then turned his attention to Sharon. He walked over to where she was standing and placed his hand on her lower back. Sharon jumped a little when Andy touched her. "Hey, what's going on?" Andy asked her in a concerned voice. "I keep thinking about Dominick" Sharon said as she shook her head. Andy held out his arms and Sharon walked into his embrace. "I know, sweetheart. I keep thinking about beating the father who did that to his son" Andy confessed to her as he held her in his arms. Sharon's face was buried in Andy's chest. "When Matthew ran ahead, I didn't think anything of it until that car stopped suddenly. I don't know what we would do if something happened to him" she said to him.

"He thinks you're mad at him" Andy said to her as he kissed the top of her head. "I'm not mad at him. I was scared but not mad" Sharon said to Andy. "I know, and I told him that" Andy said to her and held her close for a little while longer. Sharon pulled back and looked at Andy. "Is that why you were awake this morning? Because you've kept thinking about wanting to punch Dominick's father?" Sharon asked Andy. "Well, yes there's that but also I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that no one reported the beatings. Not the mom, or the kid, or even the teachers at the school. You're telling me that the teachers didn't see those bruises on him?" Andy said to her as she pulled away from his embrace and started to put the dishes in the dishwasher. "Andy, I agree with you. But when it comes down to it, everybody failed Dominick. His parents, his teachers" Sharon said to him as he watched her. Andy nodded. "We won't fail him" he said to her as he leaned against the counter next to the dishwasher. She thought about that as it had a double meaning. Not failing Dominick by bringing justice to his father for assaulting him and also by not failing Matthew.

She looked at Andy and nodded her head slightly. "Excuse me" she said to Andy as he stood there. "I think I have a little boy upstairs that I need to apologize to" she added as she left the kitchen and headed upstairs to see Matthew. Andy watched her as she left. He walked over to the den and sat down at the desk there. The case file was laying on top of the desk and Andy opened it, reading over the medical report again. They still didn't have an answer as to why Dominick was at that bike path along the river. Hopefully they would figure that out once the interview the father tomorrow.

Sharon went upstairs and walked in to Matthew's bedroom. She watched him play with his LEGO set for a minute before knocking on his door. Matthew looked up when he heard a knock and watched Sharon walk in to his room. "Hi" she said to him as he watched her. He then looked back down at his LEGOs. "Hi" he said softly. Sharon had a seat on the chair in his room and leaned forward, her elbows on her legs, hands clasped together. "I'm not mad at you, Matthew" Sharon said to him and Matthew stopped playing. He looked up at her sitting there. "You're not?" he asked her. "No, sweetie" she said as she reached forward to rub his back. Matthew stood up and hugged Sharon. "I just didn't want you to get hurt. When I saw that car stop suddenly, I didn't want you to get hit by the car" she said to him as he pulled away from her. She looked at him and placed her hands on the side of his face. "Daddy and I love you very much, Matthew. We don't want anything bad to happen to you" Sharon told him as he looked at her.

"Like what happened to Dominick or Tommy?" Matthew said to her. She looked at him. "Yes, like what happened to them" she said to him in a quieter voice. Matthew watched Sharon as she turned her head to look at something else in his room. She didn't want Matthew to see the sadness in her eyes at that moment. "Don't be sad, Mommy" he said to her as she looked back at him and gave him a smile. "I'm going to go back downstairs and see what Daddy is doing, you can stay up here and play if you want" Sharon said to Matthew as she stood up from the chair. "Can I play with this downstairs?" Matthew asked Sharon as he held up his remote control car. "It runs better on the wood floor than on carpet" he added. "Sure sweetie" Sharon said to him and then they both headed downstairs.

When Sharon came down, Andy was sitting in the den reading some report. Matthew placed his remote control car on the floor and started driving it around in the hallway and then in to the kitchen. Sharon made her way in to the den and stood behind Andy sitting in the chair. She wrapped her arms around his chest and leaned forward to see what he was reading. "Everything okay now?" he asked her as he placed the report down on the desk. "Yes, I think so" Sharon said to him as she turned her head and kissed his neck. "What were you reading?" she asked him. "I was just going over the medical report that Doctor Morales sent us" Andy said to her as he looked at the report on the desk. He then closed his eyes as Sharon was still kissing his neck, right where his scar was from when he had surgery to remove the blood clot there.

Andy's cell phone rang, interrupting the moment between Sharon and him. "Hmm, what does your partner want?" Sharon said as he picked up his phone to answer. "I'm not sure" he said to her as he pressed the button to answer the call. "Flynn" he said answering the phone. "Hey, how are you doing?" Provenza asked him. "Um, fine Provenza, what's up?" Andy said to him over the phone. "Nothing's up. I just wanted to know how you were doing because I know you had a difficult time last night at the Herrera's home" Provenza said to him. "You called because you're concerned about me? Since when?" Andy said to Provenza, chuckling afterwards. "Oh come on Flynn. You and I have been partners for a long, long time. I can be concerned about you" Provenza said in defense. "Yeah, okay" Andy said to him. "Alright, Patrice is driving me crazy over here. Wanting me to do things around the house, her honey-do list" Provenza said to Andy and Andy laughed.

"So what do you want me to do?" Andy asked Provenza as he looked at Sharon who was now sitting down across from him on the other side of the desk. "I need you to help me" Provenza said in a quiet voice. "Do you want to come over?" Andy asked him. "I thought you'd never ask" Provenza said to him and then Andy heard Provenza telling Patrice that Andy and Sharon had invited them both over to their house this afternoon. "Thank you Andy, see you in an hour" Provenza said as he hung up. Andy pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it. "What's wrong?" Sharon asked him. Andy looked up at her. "I think Provenza just invited himself and Patrice over to our house so that he doesn't have to work on Patrice's honey-do list for him" Andy said to Sharon. Sharon chuckled and then gave a serious look to Andy. "Oh, you weren't kidding?" Sharon said and Andy shook his head. "No, he said they would see us in an hour" Andy said to her.

"What!? What are we going to serve?" Sharon said as she stood up and started to walk out of the den and towards the kitchen. Andy followed her. "We don't have to serve anything, it's Provenza" Andy called out to her as he made his way in to the kitchen. Matthew was still driving his remote control car all over the first floor of the house. Moxie was watching him and would occasionally chase after the remote car. Andy looked at Matthew as he past him up in the kitchen. He walked over to where Sharon was now standing in front of the fridge with the door open. She was moving some things around in there. "He's bringing Patrice over with him, we have to have something for them when they get here. It's the polite thing to do" Sharon said as she pulled out the baby carrots and celery sticks. She pulled out a cutting board from the shelf and started to cut up the celery sticks. She then arranged them on a serving dish and Andy took out the ranch dressing from the fridge and poured some in the dipping cup that went with the dish.

An hour later, Provenza and Patrice arrived at the front door of their house. Sharon answered the door. "Hello Sharon!" Patrice said as she greeted Sharon at the doorway. "Hi Patrice, good to see you again" Sharon said to her as she walked inside the house. They walked in to the house and headed towards the kitchen. "I have some food laid out for us on the island, help yourself" Sharon said to Patrice as she walked in to the kitchen with her. "Oh Sharon, you didn't have to go through all of this trouble" Patrice said to her. "That's what I told her as well but she didn't listen to me" Andy said to Patrice as Sharon swatted her hand at Andy. Matthew walked in to the kitchen and stopped when he saw there were other people there.

"Matthew, you remember Patrice, right?" Sharon said to him. "Yes, hello" Matthew said to Patrice as he sat down at the kitchen table. "Hi Matthew. Wow! I think you've grown since the last time I saw you" Patrice said to Matthew. "He is, we had to buy some new clothes for him as his pants were getting too short on him" Sharon said to Patrice as the two of them talked. Andy and Provenza walked out to the back porch and sat down there on some chairs. "So, what was on your honey-do list that you needed to escape from?" Andy said to Provenza. "She wanted me to go through the boxes I have in the garage and throw them away" Provenza said to Andy as Andy just looked at him. "Do you know how much stuff I have in those boxes?" Provenza said. "Yeah, I do because I remember when you used Sharon's condo as a holding facility for your stuff when Patrice moved in with you" Andy said to him. "Hey, I moved my stuff out of her condo right away" Provenza said. "Yeah, it wasn't until I stubbed my toe on one of your boxes, did you move them. They were sitting in Sharon's living room for at least three days" Andy said to him.

"How would you know that, Flynn?" Provenza asked him as he sat there. "You, supposedly, had just started to officially date the Captain back then" Provenza inquired. Andy looked at Provenza like he was caught. "Yeah, uh, well, Sharon of course told me about it" Andy said as he tried to get Provenza to forget what he just said. "Oh, no, not so fast Flynn. You and I are supposed to have another conversation regarding you and the Captain" Provenza said as Andy just looked at him. "I was going to wait till after we had finished this case, but I think now is a good time as any to get the real story behind you two" Provenza said to Andy. Andy just smiled at Provenza and then when he realized Provenza wasn't joking, he swallowed and took a deep breath.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 9

Provenza watched Andy as he squirmed in his chair he was sitting in outside on the back deck. "I'm waiting Flynn" Provenza said to Andy as he waited to hear this story behind the Captain and him. "Yeah, well, you see, things were complicated back then. She was legally separated but still technically married so we had to be careful on how we approached our relationship" Andy said to Provenza as he listened to his best friend. "Go on" Provenza said to Andy and Andy realized that Provenza wasn't going to drop this. "I don't think Sharon wants me telling you how we started seeing each other before she took over as Captain of Major Crimes" Andy said hoping that saying that would convince his friend to let it go. "Really? We could always get her and Patrice out here as well and ask her to tell it" Provenza said to Andy.

Andy looked back at Provenza. "Why are you so interested in mine and Sharon's dating prior to me officially asking her out?" Andy asked him. "Because you idiot, you would always deny that the two of you were dating anytime I brought up the facts that you were dating!" Provenza said to Andy. Andy knew he had a point with that. Andy hung his head low. "Look, just tell me when the two of you started to see each other, how about that, hmm?" Provenza said to him. "Fine, fine" Andy said waving him off with his hand. "But, if you repeat this to anyone, and I mean anyone" Andy said but before he finished Provenza interrupted him. "Yes Flynn, I know, now get on with it" Provenza said.

"Okay, remember how upset the Chief was when Sharon arrived at the crime scene of the two cops that were shot by Kritchner and his friend?" Andy started to say to Provenza and Provenza thought back to that incident. "Yeah" Provenza said. "When Sharon took our ballistic evidence, I was livid and kind of showed that in the office area" Andy said. "Yeah, I thought you were going to pass out, your face was beat red back then" Provenza said to him. "Well, after she returned our evidence and told us about the car, even though she didn't have to, I started to see her in a different light" Andy said to Provenza. "What light was that?" Provenza asked him and Andy gave him a look. "I watched her go in to that interview room with Kritchner, by herself, and I found myself not wanting her in there alone with that creep" Andy continued as Provenza listened to him.

"After we all attended the officers' funerals, I stopped her before she got back in her car and we started talking" Andy said to him. "I mean we knew each other before that, back when she and I were Sergeants. She helped me get sober when my ex-wife threw me out of the house" Andy continued. "Yes, yes, yes. Move on Flynn" Provenza said to Andy as he motioned with his hand. "Anyways, we would go out for coffee here and there over the next couple of months. She stayed out of Major Crimes and we stayed out of FID" Andy said as he rubbed his forehead. "Then we got in to a fight about something, I forgot what it was, but I was really mad at her, hence when she wanted the Chief to investigate Ally Moore's alleged domestic violence, I told the Chief she was wasting our time and then drew the witch stick figure on the board" Andy concluded. Provenza looked at Andy and shook his head.

"After the Chief and Sharon solved the whole Ally Moore debacle, Sharon was upset over the fact that one of her detectives used her and played on her sympathy. Before we left the morgue, after you all had left, Sharon stopped me in the hallway and asked if I wanted to go to dinner with her because she wanted to talk. We did, she apologized, and after dinner, I took her home with me" Andy said to him. "The next morning, it was nice having her wake up in my arms and we knew we had to be discreet about our relationship" Andy stated as Provenza listened. "So yes, Sharon and I had been seeing each other back then, it got a little complicated with the whole lawsuit and her auditing us, but we managed through that. Then she found the leak, the Chief left, and she took over Major Crimes" Andy said.

"Wait a minute Flynn, what about when you were in the hospital after getting into your knife fight?" Provenza asked him. "After my AA meeting I was going to stop by Sharon's place and bring her some leftover cake I had picked up for the meeting. The guy jumped me from behind and we fought. I was fighting for my life but I was also fighting to see Sharon again, that's all I could think about. When I shot the guy and he ran away, I got up and went to follow him but I immediately felt winded and weak from my wounds. As I leaned up against the car, I pulled out my phone and pressed Sharon's name to call her" Andy said to him. "I told her to call an ambulance and that I was okay but she needed to get there because I discharged my weapon into that dirt bag. She rushed down and had Sergeant Brown and Elliot meet her there. When she came over to me, she had to be all business as I explained to her what had happened. I saw the look in her eyes when I first turned around and she saw the knife wounds, she was scared. It was the same look she gave me when I collapsed last year" Andy said to Provenza.

"Ye gods! So that's why she was nice to the Chief and the rest of us that were waiting at the hospital. You and she had a thing going on between you two" Provenza said as he leaned back in his chair. "It wasn't just a thing, you make that sound cheap" Andy said trying to correct him. "Anyway it was right after the Rick Zuman case that Sharon conducted her IA investigation on then Captain Winnie Davis" Andy added to their conversation. "Okay, so then why did you deny dating the Captain whenever I would bring it up to you, with clear evidence that the two of you were dating?" Provenza asked him. "Because Sharon and I agreed that our relationship needed to stay as discreetly as possible, when she took over Major Crimes, and then Rusty came to live with her, there wasn't much we could do" Andy explained. "We still went out for dinners and stuff like that, but Rusty would tag along as well most of the time" Andy said.

"Hmm, well I have to say you both played the discreet part well. I mean, I didn't even know you two were seeing each other back then and I'm an elite detective in the Major Crimes division!" Provenza said to Andy and Andy laughed. Provenza gave him a look. "What? Why are you laughing at that?!" Provenza said to him. Andy just shook his head. "You're elite alright" Andy said still chuckling to himself. The two of them sat outside for a little while longer.

"What do you think those two are discussing out there?" Patrice asked Sharon as they sat at the kitchen table. "Oh, probably something to do with the past if I had to take a guess" Sharon said as she smiled at Patrice. "Louie was telling me about the latest case you and the team caught. I'm sorry Sharon, I know how difficult it is to deal with a teenage victim" Patrice said to Sharon as Sharon fidgeted with her hands. "When I was a nurse in the ER, I saw young victims of violence every day, it's heart-wrenching" Patrice said to Sharon as she reached to cover Sharon's hand with hers.

Matthew came back in the kitchen and was eating some carrots while he stood at the island counter. Sharon watched him as he entered the room. "Matthew, why don't you grab a plate and put some carrots on it, and sit down here with us" Sharon said to him. "Where did Dad and Louie go?" Matthew asked her as he ate another carrot. "Um, I believe they are outside sitting on the deck" Sharon said to Matthew. "Can I join them out there?" Matthew asked Sharon. Sharon looked at Patrice and then back at Matthew. "I don't see why not, go ahead, and take Moxie with you. I think he needs to go outside anyway" Sharon said as Matthew ran outside the back door.

"How are things going with him, now that you and Andy adopted him" Patrice asked Sharon as Sharon stood up from the table and refilled Patrice's glass with lemonade. "Thank you" Patrice said and then Sharon sat down. "Things are going pretty well. He seems to be adapting nicely and I think he enjoys calling me Mom and Andy Dad" Sharon said to her as she also took a sip of lemonade from her glass. "Andy and I were thinking about taking him on a trip this weekend coming up, if this case we are currently working on gets solved beforehand" Sharon said to Patrice. "Oh yes, Louie mentioned something like that to me as he was pouting about it" Patrice said. "Pouting?" Sharon inquired. "Yes, apparently he was upset with Andy because he was taking the two of you to Spring Training to see the Dodgers and not him" Patrice said with a chuckle. That also made Sharon laugh.

Matthew ran outside to the back yard with Moxie chasing him out of the house. "Hey, easy Matthew!" Andy called out to him as he ran right past them. "Sorry!" Matthew called back as he threw a ball to Moxie for him to retrieve. "How are things going with him?" Provenza asked Andy. "Things are going really well. He calls Sharon, Mom and me, Dad, I think that helps with the confusion from before when Sharon's kids were here for the holidays and he heard them call Sharon Mom. He accidently blurted it out one time" Andy said to Provenza. "Well that's good then, right?" Provenza said to him. "Yeah, it is" Andy said as he watched Matthew play with Moxie. "Who would have thought that Sharon and I would be at the place that we are at right now, all those years ago" Andy said to Provenza. "Certainly not me" Provenza quipped.

Sharon and Patrice made their way outside to the deck and sat down next to Provenza and Andy. "And what are you men discussing out here that was so funny earlier?" Patrice asked Andy and Provenza. "Oh, we were just talking about how Provenza here says that he is an elite detective at Major Crimes" Andy said to Patrice as he grabbed Sharon's hand when she walked over to them. "Ha, Ha Flynn" Provenza said to Andy and then he glanced over at Patrice. "Patrice, dear, did you know that Sharon and Flynn here were seeing each other long before anyone else knew about it?" Provenza said to Patrice. "Well, I don't know about that but I do know that the first time I met them, I knew there was a spark between the two of them, something just clicked" Patrice said to everyone. Andy glanced over at Sharon sitting next to him and smiled at her. Sharon smiled back at Andy and squeezed his hand.

Provenza and Patrice ended up staying for dinner and Andy had grilled them all the best salmon that they had tasted. "Andy, however you prepared the salmon filets, they were delicious" Patrice said to Andy as she helped Sharon clear the table. "Oh, thank you Patrice" Andy said to her as he rinsed the dishes that Sharon handed to him. "See, Louie, Andy helps out and puts the dishes in the dishwasher" Patrice said to Provenza as he sat down at the table and was telling Matthew about the Dodgers. Provenza looked up at her and then over at Andy and just shook his head. "So, who's your favorite player now?" Matthew asked Provenza as they continued to sit there. Andy walked back to the table to pick up the main glass tray that was used for the fish. "You're making things difficult for me at home" Provenza muttered to Andy under his breath. Andy just shook his head. "Matthew, he can't answer that question because his favorite player, is no longer playing baseball" Andy said to Matthew as he brought the dish up to the sink and rinsed it before he placed it in the dishwasher.

"That's not true Matthew, my favorite player currently on the team is Adrian Gonzalez" Provenza answered Matthew. "Oh come on! Everyone likes Adrian Gonzalez" Andy stated as he walked back to the table. Sharon and Patrice walked over to the family room while they discussed the Dodgers in the kitchen. "You like him too, Dad" Matthew said to Andy and Provenza looked at Andy and then folded his arms across his chest, smiling with a big grin.

"How are things with Andy, his health I mean" Patrice asked Sharon as they sat down on the couch. "He's doing well. His doctor is happy with the diet he placed him on and the numbers at his checkups are within the range the doctor wants him at" Sharon said to Patrice. "But, you worry about him" Patrice said to Sharon. Sharon glanced up at her sitting on the other end of the couch. "I do, yes" Sharon said in an almost whisper to Patrice. "He knows that too" Sharon added as she glanced over in the direction of the kitchen and then looked at Patrice. Patrice nodded.

It was getting late in the evening, and Provenza walked over to the family room. "Patrice, we should get going. Captain, it's been a pleasure. See you and Flynn early tomorrow. We'll deal with Mr. Herrera and Winnie Davis tomorrow, if she pops up" Provenza said to Sharon as he and Patrice walked over to the front door. "Good night Flynn" Provenza said to Andy as he shook his hand. "Night" Andy said in return. "Matthew, come say goodbye to Louie and Patrice" Sharon called over to Matthew, who was still sitting in the kitchen. Matthew came over to them and gave each of them a hug. "Goodbye" Matthew said as Provenza and Patrice walked out the door. Andy closed the front door and locked it, then turned around to look at Sharon and Matthew.

"Well Matthew, it is getting late and you have school tomorrow, so I guess you know what that means" Sharon said to him as he turned around to go upstairs. Matthew slowly climbed up the stairs, practically climbing them on his stomach. Sharon and Andy looked at each other. Andy walked up behind Matthew. "What'cha doing buddy?" Andy asked him as he climbed the stairs. "Pretending to be a mountain climber. Do I have to go to bed?" Matthew asked Andy as they made it to the top of the stairs. "Afraid so, it's a school night" Andy said as he walked with Matthew to his room. Matthew got ready for bed and a minute later, Sharon came up to join them along with Moxie.

Moxie jumped on Matthew's bed and settled down for the night. Matthew climbed into his bed and Sharon tucked him in. "Good night, Matthew" Sharon said as she kissed his forehead. "Good night, Mommy" Matthew said as he curled up on his side. "Good night buddy" Andy said to him. "Night Dad" Matthew said as he yawned and closed his eyes. Andy stood there for a second before closing the door behind Sharon and him.

Sharon and Andy made their way into their bedroom, closing their door behind them. "So, do we know who the lawyer is for Mr. Herrera yet?" Andy asked Sharon as he got ready for bed. "No, we don't" Sharon called out from the bathroom where she was getting herself ready for bed. "Well, hopefully the dirt bag doesn't do anything stupid, otherwise I'd hate to be the one to set him straight" Andy said as Sharon walked out of the bathroom wearing one of Andy's Dodgers shirts and a pair of silk shorts. Andy saw her as he turned around and watched her walk out of the bathroom. He pulled on his right ear lobe as she made her way closer to him. Andy swallowed as she came right up to him and pulled him in for a kiss. "You will do no such thing Andy, again, the last thing we need is an FID investigation of you with Winnie Davis flying around" Sharon said as she pulled away from him.

"So I assume you told Provenza the story of how we started seeing each other" Sharon said to him as she reached up and kissed him. "I did, just the basics only" Andy said as he ran his hands through her hair. "You are so beautiful" Andy whispered to her which made Sharon blush. She smiled at him and played with his short hair on the back of his head. He pulled her in for another kiss. She ran her hands up and down his back as Andy held her close to him. "How are you feeling?" he asked Sharon. "I'm doing better, Patrice and I talked about this case a little and it helped" Sharon answered Andy as she led him to their bed.

Andy pulled back the covers and Sharon slipped in with Andy right behind her. "Promise me you'll keep your cool tomorrow when we deal with the father" Sharon said as she turned in Andy's arms to face him. "I promise" Andy said as he kissed Sharon. Sharon found her usual spot and laid her head right on Andy's shoulder as he held her. She took her hand and placed it on his bare chest right above his heart. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Andy did the same as soon as he felt her relax into his embrace.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 10

Monday morning came early in the Flynn household. Matthew woke up from a bad dream and made his way to Sharon and Andy's bedroom. Moxie followed him there. He opened the door slightly and saw them sleeping so he quietly entered their room. He walked over to the side of the bed where Andy was sleeping and tapped him on the shoulder. "Dad? Daddy?" Matthew whispered as he kept tapping Andy's shoulder. Andy woke up and saw Sharon still sleeping as he turned to see Matthew standing next to their bed. "Hey, what's the matter?" Andy asked Matthew in a quiet voice. "I had a bad dream" Matthew said. Andy moved over to make room for Matthew on his side of the bed. As Andy scooted over, Sharon stirred and woke up to the movement in their bed. "Andy?" she said to him as she noticed he was sitting up. She sat up as well and saw Matthew climbing into their bed.

"Matthew had a bad dream" Andy said to Sharon as he settled back down on his back. Sharon scooted over and watched Matthew get settled next to Andy. She then laid back down on her side, curled into Andy's body as Andy wrapped his right arm around her and his left arm around Matthew. All three of them fell back asleep. Moxie laid down at the foot of their bed.

Their alarm was the next thing that woke them up. Sharon rolled over to turn the annoying beeping off and then she got up and made her way to their closet. Andy started to move as well and was able to slip out from Matthew, without disturbing his sleeping. He then made his way to their closet to join Sharon in picking out their clothes for the day. "Remember we have that meeting at Matthew's school tonight, 7pm, regarding bullying" Sharon said to Andy as she made her way behind him and headed towards their bathroom. "Yes, we are also going to have to notify the Principal about what happened to Dominick, since he attended St. Anne's" Andy said as he walked behind Sharon in the bathroom.

Sharon and Andy both got ready for work and while Andy was shaving his face, Sharon walked over to their bed to wake Matthew up. Moxie followed her over to the bed. "Matthew, sweetie, you need to get up now" Sharon said to Matthew as she gently shook his shoulder. Matthew rolled over. "I don't want to get up" he said as he yawned and stretched. "Come on, you need to get ready for school" Sharon said as she helped him get up and out of bed. Matthew then walked back in to his room, carrying his stuffed animal with him. Sharon followed behind to make sure that he didn't climb back in his bed. Matthew grabbed his clothes for school and then made his way to his bathroom to get ready.

Sharon, satisfied that Matthew was getting ready for school, made her way back in to their room to finish getting ready for work. Andy came out of the bathroom, all set and clean shaven. As he passed Sharon in their room, Sharon reached up to his face and gently caressed it. "Hmm, good morning" she said to him as she leaned up for a kiss. "Good morning" he said to her as they broke apart. "Matthew is changing in his bathroom" she told him as she walked into their closet. She opened their safe and took her gun out, placing it in her holster on her hip and then threw her suit jacket on over it. Andy waited until she was finished before he went into their closet to do the same thing. He took his gun out of the safe and placed it in his holster. When he walked out of the closet, Sharon was holding his suit jacket for him and he put it on. She ran her hands down the lapels of his jacket and smiled at him. He smiled back and they made their way out to the hallway and Sharon headed downstairs while Andy waited for Matthew.

Matthew came out of his bedroom all set and ready to go. "You have everything from up here?" Andy asked him as Matthew carried his backpack downstairs. "Yep" Matthew said as he jumped down the stairs. Andy and Matthew joined Sharon in the kitchen for breakfast. Moxie was laying down on his bed in the kitchen as they walked past him. A bowl of fresh fruit was at the middle of the table and Sharon was bringing the cereal boxes from the pantry to the table when Matthew and Andy sat down at the table. Matthew grabbed the Cheerios box and poured the cereal in his bowl. Sharon then handed him the milk and he poured the milk in his bowl, spilling a little over the sides. Andy started to grab the box of Lucky Charms, but Sharon took the box away and gave him the Raisin Bran instead. Andy shook his head. "I was just going to move that out of the way, Sharon" Andy said to her. "Sure you were" Sharon replied as Andy sat there staring at his bowl.

"Matthew, Daddy and I have a meeting at your school at 7 tonight. We will pick you up from the after school care program and probably go out to dinner before we attend the meeting" Sharon said to Matthew as he grabbed his lunch and placed it in his backpack. "Am I going to this meeting too?" Matthew asked her as she was putting away the bread. "I think it's for the students as well, so yes, you will be going too" Sharon said as Andy came back inside the house with Moxie from the back yard. "Is everybody ready?" he asked them as he grabbed Sharon's trench coat and held it for her. Matthew put his jacket on and grabbed Moxie's leash. "Ready!" he said to them and they walked out of the house.

They decided to drop Moxie off first this time and then they headed over to Matthew's school. Andy saw the news van outside of the school and wondered what they were doing there. They had purposefully not informed the press about their current case, because they didn't want to cause uproar at the school. "What's that news van doing here?" Andy said to Sharon. "I'm not sure" Sharon said to him as they got out of the car. Sharon and Andy both walked in with Matthew. Sharon bent down to Matthew. "Okay, have a good day today" Sharon said to him. "I will" Matthew replied and headed towards his classroom. Sharon and Andy then made their way down the hall towards the Principal's office. "Hello, is Principal Gottardo in?" Sharon asked the secretary. "I'll go get her for you" the secretary said to them as they waited in the office.

"Captain Flynn, Lieutenant, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Principal Gottardo said to them as she entered the office. "Um, I think we should speak privately in your office" Sharon said as she followed the Principal inside her office. "Please have a seat" Principal Gottardo said to them as she sat behind her desk. "Is this about the bullying incident on Friday? I just want to let you know that Matthew wasn't the child that was bullied" Principal Gottardo stated to them. "Oh, uh we know that" Andy said as he glanced at Sharon and then back at the Principal. "You are both coming to the meeting tonight?" she asked them. "Yes, we are. Principal Gottardo, we have some information regarding the bullying incident that occurred Friday" Sharon said to her. "What is it that you have?" Principal Gottardo asked. "Well" Sharon said as she cleared her voice. "The child that was involved in the incident, a Dominick Herrera, in the 8th grade class, he was found in the LA river on Saturday morning" Sharon informed her.

The Principal was shocked hearing the news of one of her students. "Oh my goodness" she said to them. "Did you or the teachers here ever notice bruises on Dominick's body?" Andy asked her. "No, I never noticed anything. I could ask the 8th grade teacher to come in here, you can ask her" Principal Gottardo said and then stepped out of her office to notify the 8th grade teacher. Kathy Ryan stepped in to the office and joined the Principal with Sharon and Andy. "Oh, hello again" Kathy said as she sat down in the office. "Mrs. Ryan, Dominick Herrera was in your class, is that right?" Sharon said to her. "Yes, that's right" she answered her. "Did you ever notice any bruises on Dominick's body when he came to school?" Andy asked her. "No, never noticed any bruising on him, why?" Kathy asked them as she glanced at the Principal.

"We sorry to have to inform you of this but Dominick Herrera was found in the LA river Saturday morning. He was beaten when his body was discovered" Sharon said to Kathy. "Oh my gosh!" Kathy said in shock. "We arrested his father Saturday night, after we found evidence suggesting that he assaulted him. We also found a notebook, kept by Dominick. We just wanted to know if the school knew about any of this" Andy said to them. "No, no if I knew that he was getting beat up at home, I would have notified the authorities" Kathy said to them. "Principal Gottardo, however you want to notify the rest of the school is up to you" Sharon said to her. "I think we will notify everybody tonight at the meeting" Principal Gottardo stated. "Also, you have a news van parked out front of the school. I wouldn't speak with them about any of this yet" Sharon said to her and she acknowledged.

"We're very sorry about this" Sharon said as she stood up from her chair in the office and made her way to the door to join Andy who was already standing there. "Thank you for notifying us, Captain, Lieutenant" Principal Gottardo stated to them and then they left the school. Sharon took a deep breath as they made their way to their car. The news van was still parked there, like they knew a story would be breaking soon. They climbed into their car and Andy started the engine. He glanced over at Sharon before he put the car into drive. He drove them to the PAB where they were going to find out the details behind this case.

When they arrived at the parking garage, after Andy parked their car, he stepped out and walked over to hold Sharon's door for her, something he did every day. It just so happened that today, when he did that, Winnie Davis saw them as she was walking towards the elevators from her car. "Ah, Captain. I was glad to see that your team didn't go into the red over the weekend" she said to Sharon and Andy as they just happened to be walking to the same area at the same time. "Chief, kind of hard to investigate a crime with your hands tied behind your back" Sharon said back to her. Winnie Davis stood there waiting for an elevator with them. "You know, if you have something to say about the way I'm running things why don't you just come out and say it, Captain?" Winnie Davis said to Sharon. Sharon wasn't going to back down and moved closer to Winnie. "I'd just like to know what the Chief of Operations is doing sticking her nose in an investigation by Major Crimes, that doesn't fall under your jurisdiction within the department" Sharon said to her.

Before Winnie could answer Sharon the elevator doors opened and Andy stepped inside, holding the door for Sharon as she followed him. The doors then closed as they left Winnie Davis down in the parking garage. Sharon closed her eyes and let out a long sigh as they rode in the elevator up to the 9th floor. Andy glanced over at her. "Do you feel better?" he asked her as he placed his arm around her shoulder. "I do, a little" she said as she smiled. The elevator doors opened on their floor and they walked towards the Murder Room.

They made their way in to the Murder Room and Provenza greeted her. "Ah, Captain, good morning" Provenza said to Sharon as she entered the office. "Good morning, Lieutenant" Sharon said. "Julio and Mike are back at the crime scene this morning, trying to see if there are any more clues that were left before our untimely departure Saturday morning" Provenza said to Sharon as she looked around the room. "Good" Sharon said to him.

"Mr. Herrera is being brought up to our offices as we speak, along with his court appointed lawyer" Provenza said to Sharon. "Okay, do we know who his lawyer is?" Sharon asked. "Uh, no, we do not Captain" Provenza said and then Sharon went into her office and closed the door behind her. Provenza looked at Andy. "Everything okay with the Captain this morning?" Provenza asked him as he walked over to his desk. "Everything's fine, although we did run into Winnie Davis downstairs in the parking garage" Andy said to Provenza as he sat down at his desk.

Sharon sat down behind her desk and looked over the case file. She gathered the information that they took Saturday night when they arrested Mr. Herrera and placed it inside the file folder. She wanted to have as much information with her as possible when they interviewed him with his lawyer. She also grabbed the revised and latest medical report from Dr. Morales. She re-read it again and the words 'suffered a concussion from continuous blows to the head' stood out along with 'victim may have been disoriented and not aware of surroundings' and 'accidental drowning'. She shook her head and could not wait to interview the father.

Sharon then stepped out of her office holding the file folder and proceeded over to where Buzz was sitting down at his desk. "Buzz, is everything ready for the interview this morning?" Sharon asked him. "Uh, yes Captain" he said as he stood up and walked over with her to electronics. "Interview room 1 is all set up and ready to go for you" Buzz said as he showed her on the monitor. "Thank you Buzz" Sharon said to him.

Just then, Andy walked over to electronics and stepped inside the room. "Um, Sharon?" Andy said to her and she turned around. "Mr. Herrera was just brought up with his lawyer" Andy said but the tone in his voice was a little off. Sharon picked up on it right away and walked over to him. "Who's his lawyer?" Sharon asked him. "Jack" Andy said to her and she sighed. Sharon left electronics and walked out to the Murder Room where she saw Jack Raydor standing next to his client, Mr. Herrera, as two officers were holding him. "Hello Sharon" Jack said to her as she stepped out and saw him.

"Amy, please show Mr. Herrera to Interview Room 1 while I speak to his attorney for a moment" Sharon said to Amy as she walked towards her office. "Jack, a word please?" Sharon said as she pointed to her office for Jack to join her. "Don't say anything until I'm back" Jack said to Mr. Herrera and then walked into Sharon's office. Sharon stepped inside with Andy and Provenza as Jack took a seat in front of her desk. "What do you want to discuss, Sharon?" Jack said to Sharon as she sat down at her desk. "First of all, since when are you on the court appointed defense attorneys list?" Sharon asked him. "Well, I decided to do a little side work, besides working at the firm and I thought I could make a little extra money doing this. I like to give my petite amie pretty things" Jack said to Sharon as he glanced over at Andy and then Provenza. Andy started to move forward but Provenza held him back. Jack turned around in his seat. Andy stared back at Jack which made Jack a little uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Anything else Sharon because I'd like to get started with my client" Jack said to her. "Only you would defend a piece of shit like him" Andy said to Jack. Jack stood up and looked at Andy, as he shook his head. "Now, now, Andy, I'd be careful what you say to Mr. Herrera's attorney" Jack said to him as he walked right up to where Andy was standing in Sharon's office. Andy really wanted to punch Jack but knew now was not the place nor the time to do so. Jack then smiled and left Sharon's office. He headed towards Interview Room 1 where his client was currently waiting.

"What's he up to?" Provenza asked the two of them as they watched Jack leave the office. "I don't know" Sharon said to them as she stood up and walked over to the door. "Lieutenant Flynn, please join me in Interview room 1" Sharon said as she left her office. "Do you think that's wise, Captain? Bringing Flynn in with you. They hate each other" Provenza said as Andy glanced at him. Sharon turned around. "Exactly why I'm bringing Andy in with me, Lieutenant" Sharon said and then nodded to Andy and the two of them walked to Interview room 1. Provenza just stood there and ran his hand through his hair. He then joined Amy and Buzz in the electronics room. Andy opened the door to the interview room and Sharon stepped inside. Andy then closed the door behind them.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 11

Julio and Mike were at the scene where Dominick had entered the river. "Hey Mike, take a look at this" Julio said pointing at the ground area. Mike walked over to where Julio was standing and knelt down. "Looks like a shoe imprint" Mike said as he pulled out his measuring tape and measured how long the print was. "Too small to be an adult" Mike said to Julio. Mike looked around where they were at. "I don't see any other foot prints here, I'd say the kid was by himself when he fell in the river" Mike said as Julio looked at the river.

Back at the PAB, Andrea Hobbs and Rusty walked in to the Murder Room and popped their head in electronics. "Ah, Hobbs, you just got here in time to see the show" Provenza said to Andrea as she walked in. Andrea walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair that Amy moved for her. Rusty was standing by the back wall. "Jack's this guy's lawyer?" Rusty said to the team as he looked at the monitors. "I'm sure Sharon was thrilled when she saw that" Andrea stated to them as she looked on.

Sharon walked in to the interview room and had a seat at the table across from Jack and Mr. Herrera. Andy joined her as well, after he had closed the door. Jack had a smug grin on his face when the two of them sat down across from him. "Mr. Herrera, I'm Captain Sharon Flynn and this is Lieutenant Andy Flynn. I believe you have been read your rights" Sharon stated to Mr. Herrera. Mr. Herrera sat there staring at Sharon and didn't answer her. "He knows his rights, Sharon, let's get on with this" Jack said to Sharon as he glanced at Andy who was sitting directly across from him. Mr. Herrera's one hand was handcuffed to the chair he was sitting in.

"Do you like beating up your wife, Mr. Herrera?" Sharon asked him as she showed the pictures that they took of Mrs. Herrera's bruises to him. "Does it make you feel big and in charge?" Sharon said as she looked at Mr. Herrera. Mr. Herrera just sat there, not looking at the pictures shown to him. Sharon glanced at Andy. "You also liked to beat up your son, Dominick, isn't that right?" Andy asked him. "That kid was always screwing up" Mr. Herrera stated. "So you thought that beating him was the answer to that?" Andy said. "Don't answer that" Jack stepped in and said. "I'd like to know why Major Crimes is so interested in a domestic violence case" Jack said to Sharon and Andy as he was writing down some notes in his notebook.

"Mr. Herrera, after Dominick left your house Friday night, where did he go?" Sharon asked him. "How should I know? He usually runs into his room and locks the door" Mr. Herrera stated. "When you beat Dominick up Friday night, what did you do afterwards?" Sharon asked him. "I don't remember, I was drunk" Mr. Herrera stated. "Again, I'm going to ask why is Major Crimes interested in this domestic violence case?" Jack said to Sharon and Andy. "Because, Jack, Dominick's body was discovered in the LA river early Saturday morning" Sharon stated to them. "And we are here to discuss the murder of your son, Dominick, Mr. Herrera" Sharon said to Mr. Herrera as she showed the pictures of Dominick's body.

"I didn't kill him!" Mr. Herrera stated out loud. "He left the house alive" he added. Jack looked at his client and then across the table to Sharon and Andy. "Oh, so you did see him leave then, Mr. Herrera?" Andy said to Mr. Herrera as he glanced at Sharon. "Dominick left after I punched him. He came home with a note from his teacher at school, saying that he had gotten into trouble on the playground with another kid. The teacher accused him of bullying. When I got home from work that night, my wife told me what had happened and I went into Dominick's room and confronted him about it. He mouthed off to me. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers. Dominick said something to me later that night and I gave him a beating. He disrespected me!" Mr. Herrera stated.

"So you thought you should beat him up?" Andy asked him. "He knew better than to disrespect me" Mr. Herrera stated. "He was a 13 year old boy" Andy said, disgusted. Sharon placed her left hand on Andy's right arm to calm him down. "When you beat your son up that night, Mr. Herrera, you gave him a severe concussion, according to the medical examiner's report" Sharon said to Mr. Herrera and then handed the report to Jack for him to read. "The best you have here is assault, not murder" Jack said to Sharon as he read the report and handed it back to her. "It's murder Jack, and I have intent as well" Sharon stated to him.

"Mr. Herrera, take a look at this notebook, it was written by Dominick, your son. All of the entries were written after you beat him up" Sharon said to him as she showed him the notebook on the table. "Read the last couple of entries from a few weeks back" Sharon said to them. "I think my dad is going to kill me. He even said so to me tonight" Jack read out loud. "Note the date on that entry, February 17, 2017" Sharon said. "Look at previous ones further back, December 2016, November 2016, September 2016. The list goes on and on, each entry says the same thing 'my father said he is going to kill me'" Andy said to Mr. Herrera as he looked at him.

"This was a 13 year old boy, why didn't he report anything to the police or his school?" Jack asked them. "Maybe perhaps because Mr. Herrera here threatened him if he told anyone about it, just like he told his wife, whom he beat as well" Andy said to Jack as he looked at Mr. Herrera. "Mr. Herrera, we spoke to your wife, she's safe now, and getting the help that she needs" Sharon said to him. Mr. Herrera stared at the notebook in front of him. Jack looked at his client and then closed the notebook. "Okay, what type of deal are we looking at here" Jack said to Sharon. "Oh, there's no deal here Jack. Your client murdered his son" Sharon said to him as she looked at Mr. Herrera.

"What kind of deal does Jack want?" Andrea asked. "The 'I didn't mean to do it deal' probably" Provenza said as his phone rang. "Yes Tao?" Provenza said as he answered it. "The scene confirms what Dr. Morales wrote in his report. We did not find any other footprints besides the kid's so it looks like he stumbled into the river" Mike said to Provenza over the phone. "Alright, I'll let the Captain know. You guys come on back now" Provenza said as he hung up his phone. Provenza ran his hand over his face and then turned to Buzz. "Buzz, please let the Captain know Mike and Julio are done at the crime scene, looks like it corroborates Dr. Morales's diagnosis" Provenza said as he looked at the screen.

"Captain, Lieutenant Tao says that the scene suggests what Dr. Morales stated in his report" Buzz said through the ear piece Sharon was wearing. She nodded her head and then turned her attention back to Mr. Herrera and Jack. "My client didn't know that hitting his kid would cause him to have a traumatic brain injury which caused him to fall into the river" Jack said to them. "You've got to be kidding me" Andy said to them as he glanced at Sharon. "My client was drunk when he hit his kid, his judgement was impaired" Jack added. "Your client knows right from wrong!" Andy stated loudly. "Let me speak with the DDA. I'm sure Hobbs is here snooping around" Jack said to them.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Andrea said as she sat in electronics listening to what Jack had just said. She stood up from her chair and made her way out of electronics over to the interview room that they were in. She knocked on the door and then opened it. "Ah, see I knew she was here" Jack said as Andrea stepped inside the room. "Nice to see you too" Andrea stated. "My client will plea to manslaughter" Jack stated to her. "Manslaughter?" Andrea said and questioned Jack. "Yep, he didn't realize what he was doing would kill his son" Jack said to Andrea. Andy heard that reasoning and stood up and walked to the back of the room, giving Andrea his chair. Andrea took the seat offered to her.

"This is definitely not manslaughter at all, Jack. The DA's office is offering Second Degree murder" Andrea stated to Jack and Mr. Herrera. "You can't prove that my client intentionally killed his son, Andrea" Jack stated to her. "No, but I can prove that he disregarded human life by constantly beating his son, which in turn lead to his death" Andrea stated to Jack as the two of them squared off. "Oh, I think we have enough evidence here to do exactly that" Sharon stated to Jack and then folded her arms across her chest as she sat there. "What's it going to be?" Andrea asked Jack as she looked at him. Jack looked at the two women sitting in front of him and his client.

Jack then turned to his client and quietly explained to him what was going on. "But I didn't kill my son!" Mr. Herrera said loudly in the room and banged his fist on the table. He then stood up but since his right hand was still handcuffed to the chair, he couldn't get far. Andy rushed over to Mr. Herrera and grabbed his left arm before he could do anything else. "Sit down!" Andy yelled at him, forcing him back into the chair. Jack watched Andy as he stood over his client. Andy wasn't going to let Mr. Herrera hurt anyone else as he still held onto his arm. "Andy!" Sharon said to him and he turned his head to look at her. Her eyes pleaded with his and Andy let go of Mr. Herrera's arm. Andy stood over him and watched him. "We'll take it, and work on the sentencing portion of it later today" Jack said to Andrea and Sharon. "Good" Andrea said as she stood up. The two officers who brought Mr. Herrera up from holding walked back in to the room and stood next to Mr. Herrera. They un-cuffed him from the chair and stood him up, then placed the cuffs back on him and walked him down back to holding. Jack followed them out of the room without saying a word to Sharon or Andy.

Andy stood in the room looking at Sharon. He walked over to where she was standing behind the chair she had just gotten up from. "We brought him justice" Andy said to her as he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed it. "Justice that came too late to help him" Sharon said in a low voice. Sharon then turned around and walked out of the interview room and towards her office. Andy followed her out and was joined by Provenza as he stepped out of electronics. Andy watched Sharon enter her office and then she sat down behind her desk, placing the file folders in the middle of her desk.

Provenza walked back to his desk to start his paperwork for the case and Andy did the same. Everyone else joined them minutes later, typing the reports up on their computers. Chief Howard walked in to the Murder Room. "Chief! What can we do for you?" Provenza asked him as he walked closer to Sharon's office. "Is the Captain busy?" Chief Howard asked before he knocked on her door. The blinds were closed so he couldn't see inside her office. "She should be finishing up some paperwork on the case we just closed" Andy said to Chief Howard as he turned around at his desk. Chief Howard nodded and then knocked on Sharon's office door.

"Come in" Sharon said as she was writing down some notes. She looked up and saw Chief Howard enter her office and she placed the pen down at her desk and clasped her hands together. "Chief, what can I do for you?" Sharon asked him. "I heard your team solved the case you caught Saturday morning, about the 13 year old kid who was found in the river" Chief Howard said to her. "Yes, we just finished that about an hour ago" Sharon said as Chief Howard sat down on the chair in front of her desk. She could tell this wasn't a social call.

"Winnie Davis was waiting for me in my office this morning" Chief Howard said to Sharon as she leaned back in her chair. Sharon just shook her head. "Apparently livid about some encounter she had with a Captain and her Lieutenant in the parking garage" Chief Howard said to Sharon. Sharon folded her arms across her chest. "I told you, Sharon, that I would thwart off any inquiry she was making towards your team" Chief Howard said to her. "She mentioned an IA inquiry into Major Crimes conduct" Chief Howard said. "Are you kidding me?" Sharon said as she sat up in her chair. "Now just wait a minute" Chief Howard told her as he placed his hand in the air to calm her down. "I'm still your commanding officer and I see no reason for an IA inquiry, and I told her that as well" Chief Howard explained to Sharon. "What does she have against you?" Chief Howard asked Sharon.

Sharon huffed before answering him. "She's still holding a grudge against me, from back when I was in charge of IA and FID" Sharon explained to Chief Howard. "What did you do?" he asked her. "I investigated her on alleged misconduct, relieving her of her duties while conducting the investigation" Sharon said to him. Chief Howard sat back in his chair. "Really?" he said to her. Sharon just shrugged her shoulders as they both sat in her office.

Later that afternoon, everyone turned in their reports to Sharon. Amy and Julio removed the pictures and cleared the Murder Board, placing the items in a box. Provenza knocked on Sharon's door as he entered. Andy wrote all the information from the case on the box lid. He watched his friend walk over to Sharon's office and enter it, closing the door behind him.

"Captain" Provenza said to Sharon as he had a seat across from her desk. "I know this case was a difficult one and that I questioned your judgement several times during the case, when we were called back from processing the crime scene, at the victim's home, and this morning with Jack" Provenza said to her as she listened to him. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry" Provenza said to her. "Apology accepted, Lieutenant" Sharon said and smiled at him.

"You know, despite Winnie Davis's attempts to railroad us from our investigation, we did pretty good" Provenza added as he sat there in her office. "Yeah, well, I don't think she's going away anytime soon" Sharon said to him. "The team has your back, Captain" Provenza said to Sharon and then stood up to leave her office. She thought about what Provenza said about the team having her back and how they had all changed since she took over Major Crimes five years ago.

It was after five o'clock and Sharon had sent her team home, after they had finished all of their reports for the case. She stood in her office, looking out the window at the view of the buildings. She was lost in thought when Andy entered her office. "Sharon? Are you ready to go?" Andy asked her and she turned around to face him. "Yes, I am" Sharon said to him and then she gathered her things and they headed out to the elevators. Andy placed his hand at the small of her back as they waited for an elevator to come to the 9th floor. Once one did, they stepped on it and Andy pressed the button for the parking garage. The ride down was silent so Andy decided to tell her about Rusty's text message he sent him.

"Rusty told me that he would pick up Moxie for us, and Andrea told him to go home about an hour ago" Andy said to her as they stepped off the elevator. "Good" Sharon said to him as they walked to their car. Andy unlocked the door and held it open for Sharon as she climbed inside and sat in the passenger seat. Andy then went around to the driver's side and sat in the car. He turned to Sharon and was going to say something but Sharon interrupted him instead. "Winnie Davis wanted an IA inquiry on Major Crimes" Sharon said to Andy as they sat there. "What?" Andy said as he looked at Sharon. "Chief Howard told me that this afternoon when he came to visit me in my office" Sharon said to him. Andy looked away for a second before focusing back on Sharon. "Apparently she was waiting when Chief Howard arrived this morning, after our little encounter at the elevator" Sharon said as she looked down at her hands.

Andy shook his head as he thought about what Sharon had said. "I'll ask my friend, Clint, what's really going down in Operations, he'll tell me what her agenda is" Andy said to Sharon as he started the car. "No, please don't do that Andy" Sharon said to him as she placed her hand on his arm. "If she finds out about that, then" Sharon said as she shook her head and took a deep breath. He turned to look at her and saw the sadness flash in her eyes. "Let's go pick up Matthew, we'll get dinner and then attend this meeting at his school" Sharon said to him and he nodded. Andy placed the car in drive and headed towards the school to pick him up as Sharon looked out her side window.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** I know this is off topic but WOW! Last night's episode, every Shandy shippers dream came true! Okay back to the story here. Thanks for all the great comments and reviews. Sorry this wasn't updated earlier, but real life got in the way. So here is Chapter 12. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Sharon and Andy arrived at Matthew's school and they both walked out of their car and headed towards the front door. They walked over to the after school care program area and Sharon informed the teacher there they were here to pick up Matthew Flynn. The teacher looked at her sheet and marked Matthew's name off. "I'll go get him for you" she said as she turned around and went in to the room behind her. Andy grabbed Sharon's left hand and held it in his as they waited. All Andy wanted to do was get through the rest of the week without any incidents and then they would be able to go on their trip with Matthew to see Spring Training.

Matthew walked out of the room with his backpack and jacket. "Hi" he said to Sharon and Andy. Sharon let go of Andy's hand and pulled Matthew in for a hug. "How was school, sweetie" Sharon said to him. "Good" he said as he pulled away and they started walking out to their car. Andy glanced at his watch, they had about an hour and a half before the meeting at the school. "Where do you want to go to dinner?" Andy asked them as he unlocked the car doors, opening Sharon's door first. Sharon got settled back in the passenger seat. Then he opened Matthew's door and Matthew climbed in and placed his backpack on the floor. He then put his seatbelt on and shrugged his shoulders. Andy closed his door and made his way back to Sharon. He leaned on the open door frame as she thought about a place to go eat.

"How about soup and sandwiches?" Sharon suggested. "Perfect" Andy said as he closed her car door and made his way around to the driver's side, getting in himself. They drove to the little sandwich shop that Sharon liked, across from the mall. Once inside, they placed their order and Matthew found them a table. Sharon held a kid's milk bottle for Matthew as she brought it back to their table while Andy went to get them their fountain drinks. Sharon placed the number placard on their table so that the server would know where they were sitting once their food was ready.

"So what's this meeting going to be about?" Matthew asked Sharon as Andy came back to their table with their drinks. "Here I got you a straw for your milk" Andy said to Matthew and handed him a straw. "Well, remember what happened on the playground Friday?" Sharon said to Matthew and Matthew nodded his head as he took a sip of his milk. "It's going to be about bullying" Sharon said to him. "Did you catch the person who did that to Dominick?" Matthew asked Sharon and Andy just as the food was being brought to their table. Matthew picked up his ham and cheese sandwich and took a bite out of it. "Yes we did" Sharon said to him as she started to eat her salad that she ordered.

Andy ate his food as he watched Sharon and Matthew. It made his blood boil what that father did to his son. The bad part was that he didn't show any remorse for beating his kid. Then to make matters worse, Jack shows up which made Andy even more mad, especially at that comment about buying pretty things for his girlfriend. Andy didn't realize he was clenching his fist at the moment. Andy shook the images from his head and realized that Sharon must have asked him a question because she was now staring at him. "Andy?" she said as she glanced at him and then nodded her head towards Matthew. Matthew was also staring back at him. "I'm sorry, what was the question?" Andy said to them as he looked at both of them.

"Can we go before the game starts and try to get an autograph from the players this weekend?" Matthew asked Andy. "Sure buddy" Andy said to Matthew and smiled. Andy then glanced back at Sharon, who now had a concerned look on her face. She was worried about Andy's distraction. They ate dinner and talked about their trip coming up this weekend. Matthew was super excited to say the least. Andy and Sharon were both looking forward to just getting away. Sharon glanced at her watch. "Okay, I think we should probably head back to St. Anne's for this meeting" she said to Andy and Matthew.

Matthew stood up and helped Andy clear the table they were seated in and placed all of the plates and dishes by the stand where the garbage was located. Andy and Matthew then waited for Sharon to come over to them and they exited the restaurant and headed to their car. Sharon held Matthew's hand in the parking lot and when they arrived at their car, Andy unlocked the doors and she opened the back door for Matthew. Matthew climbed in and she shut the door. She then turned around to face Andy. "Are you okay?" she asked him as he grabbed his hand. Andy looked at her. "Yeah, I'm okay" he said to her. "You just seemed distracted at dinner, earlier" Sharon said to him as he stood there next to her. "I was just thinking about what happened today" Andy told her.

Sharon nodded her head and ran her hand on his jacket. "We can talk later. After this meeting" Sharon said to him as she pulled him in for a quick kiss. Andy opened her car door and she climbed in. He then went around to the driver's side, climbing in, and drove them back over to Matthew's school. When they arrived, the school parking lot was pretty full but they were able to find a spot. Sharon saw many parents walking in to the school with their children as she stepped out of their car. Matthew stepped out and held Sharon's hand. Andy came around to join them and the three of them walked in to the school building.

As they entered the school, there was a sign pointing to where the meeting was taking place and they made their way over to the gym. Andy had his arm around Sharon and she was still holding Matthew's hand as the three of them stepped in to the gym. Sharon spotted Nicole and Dean, along with their boys, sitting down on some chairs and she waved to them. Nicole turned around to see who the boys were waving at and she waved and stood up. They walked over to join them, as Nicole had saved them seats next to them. "Hi Dad" Nicole said as she gave him a hug. "Hi sweetie" Andy said back to her. "Hi Sharon" Nicole said to Sharon and gave her a hug as well. "Hi Nicole, how are you?" Sharon said to her. Andy shook Dean's hand and then Avery and Colin hugged their grandparents. Everyone then took their seats and Sharon sat next to Nicole.

Matthew was sitting in between Sharon and Andy and he kept leaning forward talking to Colin and Avery as they were sitting next to Dean. Andy placed his right arm on the back of Matthew's chair and his hand was able to reach Sharon's back. He would gently move his fingers in a circle around Sharon's left shoulder as Sharon continued to speak with Nicole about everyday things. It sort of calmed Andy down by doing that as he watched everyone walk in and take their seats, mingling with other parents and people here and there. The atmosphere inside the gym seemed to be a pleasant one even though the topic of discussion was bullying.

There was a microphone in the middle of the gym floor along with a table and chairs. Andy saw three teachers sitting at the table, waiting for someone to come over to them. Andy looked around the gym and saw the Principal making her way through the crowd of parents to the center of the gym and she said something to the teachers. She then moved over to the microphone and started to talk. "Good evening everyone. If you could all take your seats, we will get started" Principal Gottardo stated to the crowd. She waited until everyone was seated before they got started.

"Good evening, my name is Rita Gottardo and I am the Principal here at St. Anne's School. Tonight's discussion is about bullying and I am joined over here by three teachers at this school. We are going to go over some topics with everyone here about what bullying is, how to spot bullying and look for signs, and also the various types of bullying" Principal Gottardo spoke to the crowd. "At the end, we will open the discussion to you, the parents and children, and address any concerns you might have" she stated as Andy, Sharon, and the rest of the audience listened to her speak.

One of the teachers was talking about the school's anti-bullying policy when Matthew leaned over to Andy and whispered in his ear. "I have to go to the bathroom" he said to Andy. "Okay, I'll take you" Andy said to him and that got Sharon's attention. She looked at both of them and Andy mouthed the word 'bathroom' to Sharon and she nodded, smiling at Andy. Matthew stood up and Andy followed him, holding his hand as they exited the gym and heading in to the hallway. The bathrooms were right outside the gym so they didn't have to walk far.

As Andy waited for Matthew, he was leaned up against the wall. Another father came in to the bathroom with a kid and he waited as well. "I hate attending these meetings" the father said to Andy, trying to strike up a conversation. "Yeah, bullying is not an easy topic to discuss" Andy said to the father as he waited for Matthew to finish. "Are you a cop?" the father asked Andy and Andy gave him a look. "Why do you ask?" Andy said as he let out a small chuckle. "I saw your badge and wondered" the father said to him. "Oh, yes LAPD. Lieutenant Andy Flynn" Andy said to him. "Nice to meet you, I work for the LA County Fire Department, Mike Sosa" the father said. "Nice to meet you" Andy said as he shook his hand. Matthew washed his hands and then made his way over to Andy.

"It was nice meeting you, take care" Andy said to Mike. "You too, be safe out there" Mike said to Andy as he waited for his son to finish. Matthew and Andy walked back in to the gym and found their seats next to Sharon. Sharon smiled when Matthew and Andy sat down. Matthew wrapped his arm around Sharon's left arm and leaned his head against her arm. She glanced over at Andy who leaned forward listening to the teacher who was now speaking about the various types of bullying and what teachers and parents can do.

At the end of the talks, the Principal stood up and was handed the microphone. "Okay, thank you everyone for being here. Now we'd like to open it up for a discussion" the Principal said and then one of the parent's raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Sosa" the Principal called him and he stood up. "Is it true that one of the 8th grade boys was found murdered after he was accused of bullying a younger kid here?" Mike Sosa stated and then everyone was mumbling and whispering to each other. Andy turned around to look at the guy and he shook his head slightly. "Um, Mr. Sosa, I'm not sure where you heard that from but, it is unfortunate that I have to say this but yes, one of our students who was in 8th grade accidently drowned in the LA river over the weekend" the Principal said to everyone.

"But wasn't he the one who bullied a kid Friday?" another parent said out loud to the Principal. "I cannot comment on that matter at this time" the Principal said. Andy glanced at Sharon who was looking around at the different parents. "We have an LAPD officer here, maybe he can comment" Mike Sosa said out loud to the crowd. Andy turned around and then tried lowering his head. "Lieutenant Flynn?" Mike called out his name. Sharon looked at Andy with wide eyes and Andy just shook his head and lowered it for a second before standing up.

At that moment Andy felt like he was at a news conference getting bombarded with questions. But instead of reporters asking the questions, it was outraged parents. "The situation that occurred on Friday was being handled by the school. As for the boy who was found in the river, I cannot comment on that information at this time" Andy said to everyone there and he sat back down. Sharon grabbed his right hand and held it. The discussion continued amongst the parents and the Principal and afterwards, Andy, Sharon, and Matthew said their good byes to Nicole, Dean, Colin, and Avery.

Andy, Sharon, and Matthew were walked back to their car and they got in. Before Andy started the car, Sharon turned to him. "How did that guy know who you are?" she asked him. "When I took Matthew to the bathroom, he walked in with his kid and started talking. He asked me if I was a cop, I guess he saw my badge. I thought he was being friendly, Sharon. He said that he works as a firefighter for the LA County" Andy said as he looked at her. "Who knows what his agenda was, maybe it was innocent enough and he just jumped on that opportunity" Sharon said to him. He looked at her. "Everything's fine, Andy. Let's go home" Sharon said as she put her seatbelt on and Andy drove them home. Sharon's phone alerted her to a text message from Rusty. He told her that Moxie was all set for the night and was in the kitchen. He was going to bed as he had to get up early the next morning. "Rusty says that Moxie is all set" Sharon said as Andy drove.

When they arrived back home, Matthew was sleeping in the back seat. Sharon was going to open his door, but Andy was right there. "I got him" Andy said to Sharon as he opened the door. Sharon stood behind him and waited for Andy to wake up Matthew. "Hey, buddy, we're home now" Andy said as Matthew woke up. He rubbed his eyes as Andy took his seatbelt off. Matthew then climbed out of the car and stayed close to Andy. Andy carried Matthew's back pack as the three of them walked towards the back door of the house.

Sharon unlocked the back door and stepped inside, followed by Andy and Matthew. Matthew walked ahead in to the kitchen as Andy locked the door for the night. Moxie greeted Matthew when he entered the kitchen. "Matthew, why don't you go straight upstairs, okay? We'll be up in a minute" Sharon said to Matthew as he continued walking towards the stairs to go up with Moxie at his side. Sharon stood at the island looking through the mail that Rusty had brought in. Andy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He then moved her hair to one side and nuzzled her neck.

Sharon smiled at his gesture and turned around to face him. "What's gotten in to you?" she asked him as she caressed his face. "I wanted to pummel Jack this morning for making those comments in your office" Andy said to her as he looked in her eyes. "Don't let Jack bother you. He likes to get his digs in on me, that's what he does. I think it's because I've found happiness and that bothers him" Sharon said to Andy as she ran her hands inside his jacket and wrapped them around his waist. "He never deserved you, Sharon" Andy whispered to her as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"I don't want to talk about Jack anymore" Sharon said as she broke their kiss, needing to come apart for air. "Is that what had you in deep thought this evening at dinner?" Sharon asked him as she held his hand and led him to the stairs. He stopped her before she reached the steps. "That, and also that scum bag of a father and what he did to his kid" Andy said to her. She nodded and led him up the stairs.

They walked towards Matthew's room and saw that he had already put his pajamas on. He was laying down on his bed and Moxie was standing over him, wagging his tail. Matthew was giggling. "Moxie, go lay down" Sharon said to the dog and he did. Moxie laid down next to Matthew's side. Matthew turned over to watch Sharon and Andy enter his room and he grabbed the covers and slipped it over him. Sharon walked over to him, caressed his face, and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart" she said to him. "Goodnight" Matthew said to her as he yawned and closed his eyes. "Goodnight buddy" Andy said to Matthew as Matthew hugged his teddy bear closer to him.

Andy closed Matthew's door and followed Sharon to their room. As soon as he closed their door, Sharon pushed him against the door and kissed him passionately. She ran her hands through his short hair, playing with the hair by his neck. He moaned into her mouth as he ran his hands through her hair and then down to her shoulders, eventually coming to rest on her hips. Sharon rested her head against his chest and he held her close to him.

She was happy standing in his arms, listening to his heart beating it's rhythm. Andy thought back to their conversation in the car before picking Matthew up. He was determined to find out what Winnie Davis's agenda was, even though Sharon told him that she didn't want him to. "I know this was a difficult case and I am proud of you, Andy" Sharon said breaking the silence that loomed in the room. "I wish you would let me help you" Andy said to Sharon as he continued to hold her in his arms. Sharon pulled back to look at him. "Is this about Winnie Davis again?" Sharon asked him as she looked into his eyes.

Andy looked back at her. "She's not going to find out, if that's what your worried about" Andy said to her as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "And what if she does, then what? Who do you think she's going to go after first?" Sharon said to him. "She doesn't like the fact that we're married and working in the same division, let alone me being your commanding officer" Sharon explained to Andy. Andy nodded and pulled her back in for a hug. Sharon was trembling slightly as Andy held her. "Okay" he said to her as he closed his eyes and leaned his head down to hers. He needed to figure out a way to protect Sharon.

"Let's go to bed" Andy whispered to Sharon. Sharon unwrapped her arms from Andy and gave him a kiss as she pulled away. Sharon then made her way to the bathroom while Andy changed his clothes. Once Sharon was done, they switched places. Sharon then changed her clothes and waited for Andy as she sat on their bed.

Andy came out of the bathroom and saw Sharon sitting back on their bed, waiting for him. He gave her a smile as he climbed up onto the bed. He scooted next to her and she brought up the covers surrounding them. He settled in behind Sharon as she laid on her side. He wrapped his left arm around her body, eventually finding her hand and clasping his hand around hers. Their legs intertwined with one another as they laid there in bed. Sharon fell asleep with Andy holding her on her side. Andy laid there holding her, thinking about things and how he wasn't going to let Winnie Davis get the upper hand on Sharon. He eventually closed his eyes and sleep finally came to him.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks for the great reviews on this story! I really appreciate it. Keep them coming as they give me reason to keep writing...

Chapter 13

The next couple of days went by without any interruption. It was Friday morning, and the Flynn household was busy moving about the house. Andy was in their bedroom, putting the finishing touches on the bag he was packing for their weekend trip. Sharon was busy getting Matthew ready and making sure that his things were packed. They just had to get through the morning at work and then they would be leaving right after they picked up Matthew from school.

"Are you all packed?" Sharon asked Andy as she made her way back in to their bedroom. Andy was just zipping up his suitcase. "All packed and ready to go" Andy said to her and smiled. Sharon smiled at him as she made her way to their bathroom. She was finishing packing up her toiletry bag when Matthew came walking in to their room. "I'm all set!" he said to them. "Great!" Andy answered as he moved his suitcase off their bed and wheeled it to the door. "Just hang on one second okay, buddy?" Andy said to Matthew as he held up one finger. Andy then turned around and walked in to their bathroom. He leaned into Sharon and kissed her neck. "I'll take him down, you finish getting ready and meet us downstairs, okay?" he said to her as he kissed her neck again. "Okay" Sharon whispered to him as he pulled away from her and smiled.

"All right, let's go downstairs" Andy said to Matthew as they took their suitcases down the stairs. Sharon smiled as she heard Andy and Matthew go downstairs. They had come a long way since they found Matthew, hiding in a closet, as she thought to herself. She was looking forward to this trip they were taking. She packed up the rest of her things and walked out of the bathroom, placing the small bag inside her suitcase and then zipping it up. She made her way downstairs to join Matthew and Andy and placed her suitcase next to the other two in the hallway.

Matthew was hugging Moxie while he lay on his bed when Sharon joined them in the kitchen. "I'll miss you Moxie" Matthew said to the dog as Sharon passed them. Andy was making them scrambled egg whites as he stood by the stove. Sharon stepped over to him and noticed that there was fresh fruit waiting to be sliced. "Would you like some help over here?" she asked him as she maneuvered behind him, lightly touching his back with her hand. "If you want to" Andy said as he looked over his shoulder at her. He then turned his attention to the eggs as he didn't want to burn them.

Sharon sliced the fruit and placed them on a dish. She then brought the dish over to the table. She walked back over to the cabinets and removed plates for them to use. She then set the table as Andy placed the egg whites in a serving bowl. After breakfast was all ready, the three of them sat down at the kitchen table and enjoyed the food.

After breakfast was finished, Andy cleaned the kitchen as Sharon prepared Matthew's lunch for him. Again, Matthew was curled up, lying with Moxie on Moxie's bed in the corner of the kitchen. "Do you want fruit snacks Matthew?" Sharon asked him as she placed the sandwich in his lunch bag. "Yes please" Matthew replied. Sharon watched Matthew lay there with the dog and then turned to Andy. "I think we are going to have a problem later when we leave Moxie here" Sharon said to Andy as he placed the frying pan back in its place, after he washed and dried it. "He'll be fine" Andy said, reassuring Sharon.

They left the house and drove Matthew to school. Matthew was sitting in the back seat, not wanting to leave Moxie. "Okay Matthew, remember we are going to pick you up right after school gets out" Sharon said to him but he wasn't paying attention to her. Sharon stepped out of the car and opened the back door. She saw Matthew, still with his seat belt on, with Moxie lying across his lap. "I don't think Moxie wants us to go on our trip, Mom" Matthew said to Sharon as she watched them. "Moxie, get off of Matthew. He needs to go to school" Sharon said to Moxie and Moxie obeyed her, as he got up and sat down by the other window.

"Come on, sweetie. Moxie's going to be just fine" Sharon said to Matthew as she gestured for him to get out of the car. The two of them walked over to where the school doors were at and Matthew lined up outside with the rest of his friends. Sharon waved to him in line and he waved back. She was standing there when Dean walked up to her. He was dropping off Avery and Colin and he saw them run over to where Matthew was standing in line. Sharon turned around, surprised to see Dean there.

"Hi Dean!" Sharon said as she gave him a hug. "Hello Sharon. Only you dropping Matthew off?" he asked her. "Oh, no, Andy's in the car with the dog" Sharon said to him. "Yeah, usually Nicole drops them off but she had to be at the office early today" Dean said to her. The school bell rang and then doors opened. They both waved to the boys. The children started walking inside the building as Sharon and Dean both started walking back to their cars. "Nicole told me that you and Andy are taking Matthew to Spring Training this weekend" Dean said to her as he walked her back to Andy's car. "Yes, both he and Andy are really excited about going. I am too" Sharon said as she reached the car door. "Well, have a safe trip!" Dean said to Sharon as he gave her a hug. Dean then walked around to the driver's side and greeted Andy. "Hey Dean" Andy said as he shook Dean's hand. "Is Nicole with you?" Andy asked him. "No, she had to get to the office early so I dropped the boys off" Dean said to him. Dean looked at his watch. "Well, I got to go. Have a good trip!" Dean said as he walked away and waved at them.

Andy then drove them over to the doggie day care place. Andy took Moxie inside and told the owner of the place that Rusty would be picking Moxie up later this afternoon. He then made his way back to the car where Sharon was waiting. Andy got inside the car and glanced over at Sharon for a second before starting the car again. "Everything alright?" Andy asked her as they started to drive to work. Sharon wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes" she said as she looked out the window. She thought that Matthew would have a hard time being separated from Moxie, turned out she was the one who felt sad about leaving Moxie. "Hey, what's wrong?" Andy asked her, glancing her way as they pulled up to a stop light. She looked at him as another tear fell, and wiped it quickly off her face. Andy now looked at her concerned.

"I know Moxie is just a dog, but he's grown into our family and I kind of feel bad leaving him while we go away" Sharon finally admitted to Andy as the traffic was moving again. Andy smiled as he drove them and shook his head slightly. "And you thought Matthew would have a hard time leaving him at home" Andy said as they pulled into the parking garage at work. Andy then parked the car but hesitated to get out when he saw Sharon was still sitting there. "Sharon, Rusty is going to pick Moxie up this afternoon, after he's done with his day at the DA's office. He's going to watch him at the house while we are gone" Andy said to her. "I know" Sharon said to Andy as she tried to compose herself. "Who'd of thought the great Sharon Flynn would be brought down by a dog!" Andy said to her in a teasing way. "I will deny everything if you mention that to anybody" Sharon said ready to get out of the car. Andy held his hands up in a surrendering motion and smiled at her.

Andy and Sharon made their way to the elevators in the garage. They managed to ride in the elevator without running into Winnie Davis this time. As they stepped out on the 9th floor, Chief Howard was in the hallway speaking to Provenza. "Captain" Provenza said to Sharon as Chief Howard just stood there. Sharon looked at Provenza and then at Chief Howard. "What's going on here?" she asked the two as Andy stood by her side. "I think the three of us should follow Chief Howard here to his office" Provenza said to them. Andy gave Provenza a questioning look as they all walked towards Chief Howard's office doors.

Once inside Chief Howard's office, the three of them stood in front of his desk while Chief Howard sat behind it. "Mr. Herrera was found murdered in his jail cell last night down at the county jail" Chief Howard said to Sharon, Andy, and Provenza. "What?" Sharon said in shock. Andy looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "County informed me of that this morning" Chief Howard stated as he looked at the three of them standing in front of him. "Do they know who did it?" Provenza asked the Chief. "If they do, they're not going to tell me" Chief Howard answered. Sharon didn't know how to feel at that moment. She was shocked to hear that news, sad a little for the loss of human life, and also grateful at the same time because he can't hurt anyone anymore. "Thank you Chief for letting us know" Sharon said to Chief Howard and started to turn to walk out of his office. "Captain, if you could wait. I need to speak with you, privately" Chief Howard said to Sharon as he looked at Andy and Provenza.

Sharon nodded to Provenza and squeezed Andy's hand as they walked out of Chief Howard's office. "Have a seat, Captain" Chief Howard said to Sharon as he gestured for her to sit. "Any more run ins with Chief Davis?" Chief Howard asked her. Sharon shook her head. "No sir" she said to him. Chief Howard leaned back in his chair. "Good, the selection committee is going to be choosing their candidate soon, within a couple of weeks" Chief Howard said to her. Sharon nodded her head. She was still torn from the news he told them a couple of minutes earlier. "Enjoy your vacation, Sharon. You deserve it after everything over the past couple of months" Chief Howard said to Sharon as he stood up and walked her over to the door. "Thank you" she said to him as she left his office.

On the way to the Murder Room, Sharon stopped in the women's bathroom. She stepped in front of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She suddenly felt very hot and decided to run her hands under the cool water. She then stared at her reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath and then walked out of the bathroom and back over to the Murder Room.

Sharon walked in to the Murder Room and saw Andy standing by his desk speaking with Provenza. She decided to head in to her office and not interrupt the two of them talking. She sat behind her desk and placed her bag on the floor, grabbing the files out of the bag and placed them on top of her desk. If they wanted to leave a little early today, she needed to be done with these files. She then glanced over at Provenza and Andy, who were still talking by Andy's desk. She wondered what they were talking about.

"So, do you think you can get as many players to sign this for me?" Provenza asked Andy as he handed him a picture of the Los Angeles Dodgers team. Andy looked at the picture and shook his head at his friend. "You want them to sign this?" Andy said to him. "Well, yes" Provenza said to him. "I'll see what I can do when we get to the ballpark there" Andy said to Provenza and then Provenza pulled out a baseball. "Good, could you also have them sign this ball for me?" Provenza said handing the baseball to Andy. Andy looked at him, taking the ball from his hands. "Anything else?" Andy asked him. Provenza thought about it. "Yes, could you pick me up a bat from the Spring Training?" Provenza asked Andy. "I'll see what I can do" Andy said to him as he was now holding the baseball in one hand and the picture in the other. "Thanks Flynn! It's the least you could do, since you won't take me there" Provenza said as he walked back to his desk.

Andy shook his head as he sat down on his chair at his desk. He swiveled his chair around to see what Sharon was doing. He saw her working on the reports she had taken home with her last night. As he turned back around at his desk, he just hoped that they didn't catch a case the rest of the day. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Oh, hello, my name is Andy Flynn and I am going to be staying at your hotel for the weekend, checking in tonight" Andy said to the person over the phone. "Yes, 2 adults and 1 child, that's correct" he said as he listened to what the other person was saying. "Well, I wanted a nice relaxing day at the spa for my wife. We are going to the Dodgers game tomorrow afternoon so I was hoping for a morning spa treatment for her" Andy said as he looked at Sharon, making sure that she didn't overhear him on the phone. "Perfect, thank you. Bye" Andy said as he hung up his phone. He had just booked Sharon a spa treatment at the hotel they were staying at and wanted it to be a surprise.

When the team broke for lunch, Andy went down to the corner store and bought a bag of ice along for the cooler that was sitting in their car. He had put ice in it this morning along with drinks for their road trip to Arizona. He wanted to make sure that the drinks were cold still, so he added the bag of ice to them. While he was down at the car, he ran into his friend, Clint, who worked in Operations with Winnie Davis. "Hey Andy" Clint said to him. "Oh, hi Clint" Andy said looking around the area for any sign of Winnie Davis. "Don't worry, she's up in her office" Clint said to him. "So what do you have for me?" Andy said to him. "All I could find out so far is that she's pretty confident that the committee is going to choose her for Taylor's old job. And, if she gets in, she's going to re-structure the divisions, new protocols, you know, things like that" Clint said to Andy as Andy stood there listening with his arms folded across his chest.

"But, your wife is still in the running for that job, I heard. And that bugs Davis a lot" Clint added as he looked around the garage. "Thanks Clint" Andy said to him. "Look I got to go, take care" Clint said and then walked away. Andy rubbed his hand over his mouth and sighed. He then closed the trunk and locked the car. Taking the elevator back up to the 9th floor, he walked out of the elevator when the doors opened and right into a waiting Provenza. "Where have you been?" Provenza asked him. "What? Did we catch a case or something?" Andy said to him. "No, we didn't catch a case" Provenza said as they walked back to the Murder Room. "I had to get some ice for our cooler in my car, that's all. Why?" Andy said to him as they walked through the door. The Murder Room was empty, except for Sharon still in her office. "Everyone still at lunch?" Andy asked Provenza. "Yes" Provenza said as he walked to his desk. "Did you eat lunch yet?" Andy asked him as he glanced over at Sharon in her office. "I did. Patrice brought me some healthy thing to eat and we ate in the break room" Provenza explained. "Oh, sorry I missed her" Andy said as he walked over to Sharon's office. He knocked on her door and entered when she said "Yes". "Would you like to have lunch now?" he said as he smiled at her. "Sure" Sharon said as she nodded her head at him.

The rest of the afternoon went without any glitches and Andy was getting anxious by the time 2:30 rolled by. He turned around for the hundredth time in his chair, watching Sharon in her office. She was talking on the phone with someone, Andy didn't know who. Whoever, it was, Andy thought to himself, was making Sharon smile and he felt a little jealous at the moment. "Hey Flynn! Don't forget my baseball and picture!" Provenza said from across the room. Andy looked at him and shook his head. "I'd like to put your baseball somewhere" he mumbled to himself as he showed Provenza the ball he gave him earlier and then placed it in his jacket pocket. He stood up and grabbed the picture from his desk and made his way to Sharon's office.

"Yes, Gavin I will do that. Okay, take care. Good Bye" Sharon said as Andy lightly knocked on her door and stepped inside her office. Andy smiled at her and she returned his smile with her own. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything" Andy said to her as he stood, casually, in her office. "No, that was just Gavin calling to check up on me, us, Matthew" Sharon said to him as she gathered her things off of her desk and placed them in her bag. "You're not taking case files with, are you?" Andy asked her as he saw her put something in her bag. "No, this is a work-free vacation. No files or cases" Sharon said as she grabbed her bag and stood up from her desk. "Here, Provenza wants me to get this signed for him and also his baseball too" Andy said as he handed her the picture of the team along with the baseball. "I'll put them in my bag for safekeeping" Sharon said as she took them from Andy.

"Ready?" she asked him as he looked at her. "Oh yeah" he said as he pointed with his hand for her to lead the way out of her office. Andy closed the door behind them as Sharon walked over to Provenza's desk. "Lieutenant, we are leaving" Sharon said to Provenza as he was sitting at his desk, working on a crossword puzzle. "Ah, Captain. You, the kid, and Flynn have a good trip now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do" Provenza said to Sharon and Andy. "Don't worry, I think we're good" Andy said to Provenza as he waited for Sharon to rejoin him and then they walked hand in hand out of the office.

As they rode the elevator down, Andy leaned over to Sharon and kissed her on her lips. It was a simple kiss that made Sharon blush. The elevator doors opened and they found themselves not alone anymore. Andy's friend Clint along with Chief Davis both stepped onto the elevator. "Hey Andy" Clint said and nodded to him. "Clint" Andy said and nodded back. "Captain" Winnie Davis said as she turned around to face the doors. "Chief Davis" Sharon said as they all rode in silent to the first floor. Winnie Davis stepped out followed by Clint and the doors closed again. "Well, that was awkward" Andy said to Sharon as the elevator took them down one more floor to the parking garage. Sharon hummed as the doors opened.

They walked to their car and Andy opened the door for Sharon, like he always did. She got herself settled in the car and Andy leaned back down to kiss her again. This time the kiss lasted longer as Sharon cupped his face with her hands. "Let's go get Matthew so we can get on the road before the rush hour traffic starts" Sharon said to Andy as he pulled away to look at her, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. "Do we have everything before we head over to his school?" Andy asked her as he sat on the driver's side. "Yes, we do" Sharon said to him as she grabbed his right hand as he laid it on the console in between the seats. They headed over to Matthew's school to pick him up.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Again, thanks for the reviews! Much appreciated...

Chapter 14

They waited in the parking lot of the school with all of the other parents picking up their children. Sharon and Andy were standing in line with the parents on the side, waiting for the school bell to ring. One by one, the classes get released and Matthew walked out with two of his friends. He waved to Sharon and Andy when he saw them and ran over to where they were standing. "Hi Matthew" Sharon said to him as he gave her a side hug. All three of them turned around and headed towards the car. "How was school today?" Sharon asked as they walked. "It was fine" Matthew said as he climbed into the backseat of the car. Andy waited for him to get settled in before he closed the door. He looked at Sharon who was still standing outside the car.

"He'll be fine, Sharon" Andy said as he walked around to the trunk of the car and opened the cooler, getting a water for him and Sharon. "Matthew would you like something to drink?" Andy asked him. Matthew turned around in the back seat and peaked over to see. "Do you have a juice box?" Matthew asked him. "Sure buddy, here you go" Andy said to Matthew as he handed him a Capri-sun juice. "Thank you" Matthew said as he turned around in his seat. Andy closed the trunk and proceeded to the front seat, placing the two water bottles in the cup holder as he got in. Sharon joined him and they were ready to drive.

They headed out on the 101 to Interstate 10 and headed east. Andy didn't want to be driving through the desert at night and it was going to take them 5 hours to get to Glendale, Arizona. As Andy was driving, they were heading towards the mountains about an hour outside of Los Angeles. "Where are we?" Matthew asked them as he looked out his window. "We're still in California, buddy" Andy said to him. "I didn't know there were mountains here" Matthew said innocently as he continued to look out his window. Sharon received a text message from Rusty saying that he picked up Moxie no problem and they were home now. "Rusty picked up Moxie and they're back home" she told Andy. He nodded to her and she grabbed his right hand, holding it as they drove along the highway.

A few hours later, as they drove through the desert, it was starting to get dark now. Matthew was asleep in the backseat. "So, what did Fritz want after Provenza and I left his office this morning?" Andy asked Sharon as she looked out the window. "Oh, he just wanted to ask me if I had any more encounters with Chief Davis, that's all" Sharon said as she glanced at him. Andy thought about telling her what Clint had told him earlier in the day but he decided against it at the moment. Instead, he decided to tell her about her spa morning tomorrow at the hotel. "So, since you have been stressed with everything that has been going on, work wise, and at home, I decided to book you a relaxing morning at the spa at our hotel" Andy said to her as they continued to drive to their destination.

Sharon was surprised by this. "Andy, you didn't have to do that" Sharon said to him as she caressed his right hand that she was still holding. Andy shook his head. "I wanted to do something nice for you, besides, you deserve a relaxing morning" Andy said to her. She smiled at him and brought his hand up to meet her lips and kissed his hand. "Thank you, for everything, Andy. I don't know what I did to deserve you" Sharon said to him as she watched him drive. "I'm the lucky one here, Sharon, trust me" Andy said to her and glanced over at her.

They continued to drive and they made it to the Arizona border. Andy pulled off at the first exit and stopped at the Pilot Travel Center to get gas for the car. He pulled up to the gas pump and looked over at Sharon who was now sleeping. He then looked behind her and Matthew was still sleeping. He got out of the car and started the pump for the gas. As he was waiting there watching the gas pump, a group of teenagers pulled up to the travel center, rowdy as ever as they got out of their car. Andy waited patiently as the gas tank was filled and then placed the nozzle back at the pump when the tank was full. He got back in the car and started the car again. "Where are we?" Matthew said as Andy started to pull out of the travel center. "Arizona buddy" he said to him as they got back on the highway and headed towards Phoenix.

When Sharon woke up from her nap, she noticed that they were waiting at a stop light. As she took in her surroundings she saw a sign for the Arizona Cardinals football team to her right. The light turned green and they started moving again. Sharon sat up straighter in her seat and Andy noticed some movement coming from the passenger side. "We're almost there, sweetheart" he said to her as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes. Andy then pulled the car up to the hotel's front entrance. He then parked the car nearby and got out. "I can go check us in if you want to stay here with him" Andy said to Sharon as he noticed Matthew was waking up now. "Okay" Sharon said as she turned around to see what Matthew was doing.

Andy closed the door and headed to the entrance of the hotel. He walked right up to the check-in desk and told the person behind the desk his name. Minutes later he walked out with a luggage cart, room keys, and a welcome package. He unlocked the trunk of the car and started to place the suitcases, cooler, and two smaller bags on the cart. He then walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened Sharon's door, helping her out of the car. "What's that?" she asked him as she got out of the car. "It's our welcome package" Andy said to her. She pulled him in for a kiss. "I also have all of your spa information for tomorrow morning" he added as he handed her a room key and the welcome package to hold. He then opened Matthew's door and Matthew stepped out, carrying his backpack. He noticed that it was cooler here than it was in California. "It's chilly here" he said holding his arms against his body as he walked towards the back of the car. "You're in the desert, that's why" Andy said to Matthew, trying to warm him up by rubbing his hands on his arms. "Ready?" Sharon asked them and then Andy pushed the luggage cart towards the entrance of the hotel. "We are on the 5th floor" Andy told them as they walked to the elevators.

Once they got settled in their room, which was a suite, Matthew got his pajamas on. He was looking out the window of the hotel room and he saw the pool and patio area of the hotel. "Can we go swimming tomorrow morning?" Matthew asked them. Andy and Sharon looked at each other. "Sure, buddy. But I booked a spa morning for Mommy, so it will just be you and me in the morning" Andy said to Matthew as Andy sat on one of the chairs in the room. "What time is the baseball game tomorrow?" Matthew asked Andy as he walked over to the bed, closest to the windows. "The game is at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon" Andy said to him as Matthew climbed onto the bed.

Sharon came out of the bathroom and saw Matthew already in bed. Andy was sitting on their bed with his phone in his hands. "I texted Rusty to let him know that we got to the hotel okay" Andy said to her as she walked over to him. "Thank you" she said to him and leaned down to kiss him. He ran his hands up her arms and let out a moan. Sharon pulled back and smiled at him. He smiled at her and then stood up and headed to the bathroom to change. Sharon then walked over to her side of the bed and turned off the lamp on Matthew's side. She watched Matthew sleep and tucked him in. She then kissed him on his forehead and she climbed onto their own bed and waited for Andy to come out of the bathroom.

When Andy came out he noticed the Sharon was already lying in bed, but she was reading a book. She placed the book on the nightstand by her side and pulled the covers back for Andy to get in and join her. Andy settled in on his back and Sharon leaned in on her side and kissed him good night. "Good night my love" Andy said to her as he closed his eyes. "Good night" she said to him as she laid there, thinking about everything.

It was around midnight when Sharon rolled over on her left side and noticed that Matthew was awake. She slowly lifted herself on her left arm and looked over at Matthew. He was sitting up in his bed. "Is everything okay, sweetie?" Sharon said to Matthew, quietly so that she didn't startle him. "I didn't mean to wake you up" Matthew said to Sharon in a whisper. Sharon now sat up fully on her side, careful to not wake up Andy in the process. "What's the matter?" Sharon asked Matthew. Matthew looked over at Sharon and shrugged his shoulders. "Did you have a bad dream?" Sharon asked him and he shook his head no.

Sharon decided to get up and walk over to Matthew's bed. She sat down on his bed, glancing over at Andy who was still sleeping. "You can tell me anything, you know that right, Matthew?" Sharon said to him as she brushed his hair with her hand. "I know" Matthew said quietly to her. "Do you miss Moxie?" she asked him. "I do but I know Rusty is watching him and taking care of him" Matthew answered her. "Okay, well what else is bothering you that you are up after midnight?" Sharon asked him, wondering what was bothering Matthew. He hugged his teddy bear in front of him. "I've never been in another state before, or in a hotel before" Matthew said in a quieter voice than usual. "Oh, sweetie, that's okay" Sharon said to him, reassuring him. "Being in a hotel room for the first time can take a little getting used to" she said to him and then she thought for a moment, glancing over at Andy and then back at Matthew. "What if someone comes in here during the night?" Matthew says. "Oh, we double locked the door to the hallway and the patio door is also locked, so no one is going to come in here, sweetie" Sharon said to Matthew as he sat there looking worried.

"Would you like me to read you a story?" Sharon asked Matthew as she sat on his bed. Matthew nodded his head. Sharon stood up from the bed and walked over to one of the smaller bags and pulled out a story book Matthew had packed. Of course it was about Batman, his favorite character right now. She then made her way back to Matthew's bed and climbed on the other side, sitting herself up against the headboard as Matthew laid next to her. She started reading the book to him, and by the time Sharon reached the last page, Matthew was sleeping. She closed the book and started to move off the bed but Matthew held onto her tighter. She decided to stay there and when Matthew would release his grip, she could then slip out and return to her own bed with Andy.

Andy rolled over and opened his eyes as his hand reached for Sharon but all he met was sheet and pillow. He then glanced over at the clock, seeing the time at 3:45 am. He also saw that the desk light from across the room was still on. They had left that on as a night light for Matthew. He pushed himself up on his elbows and saw Sharon sleeping in Matthew's bed, with Matthew hanging on to her shirt for dear life. 'The kid must have had a bad dream' he thought to himself as he got out of bed. He slowly walked over to where Sharon was sleeping, her head to the side, and knew she was going to feel it when she woke up.

He gently tapped her shoulder. "Sharon" he whispered to her. When she didn't wake up he did the same thing again. "Sharon" he said this time a little louder. Sharon opened her eyes, and tried straightening her head, bringing it upright. Her eyes then focused on Andy standing over her. "What time is it?" Sharon asked him. "3:45" he whispered to her as she rubbed her eyes with her left hand, which was free at the moment. Matthew still held onto her right arm. "Bad dream?" he asked her as he nodded to Matthew. "He couldn't fall asleep as he was worried about being in a hotel room" Sharon explained to him. "Looks like he's got the best part in this bed" Andy said to her. Sharon looked at him for a second before she scooted Matthew and her over a little bit. "You can join us" Sharon said to Andy as she gave him a smile.

Andy slipped in next to Sharon. Sharon moved her head down so that it rested half on a pillow and half on Andy's shoulder. They both fell asleep as Matthew still held on to Sharon's right arm.

Morning came and the three of them were still sleeping in Matthew's bed. Andy woke up and his right arm was asleep. He carefully moved so that he could get the kinks out of his arm and his arm would stop tingling. He shook it a couple of times before it started to feel better. Sharon groaned as she also woke up with a pain in her neck. Andy looked over at her and smiled. He then leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Good morning" he said to her. She smiled at him. "Good morning" she said to him. She scooted away from Matthew, who had somehow released the grip he had on Sharon's arm. She was rubbing her arm and shoulder. "We have an hour and a half before you leave for your spa morning" Andy said to her as she stood up and joined him in front of the patio doors. They were watching the sun rise over the mountains in the distance. Sharon giggled and slapped Andy on his right shoulder. "I was just going to suggest we wake him up so that we can have breakfast together, that's all" Andy said to her and Sharon looked at him. "Uh huh, sure you were" Sharon said to him as she winked at him and made her way towards the bathroom.

Andy walked around to the other side of the bed and started to wake up Matthew. Matthew opened his eyes and saw that it was getting light outside. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "Good morning kiddo" Andy said to Matthew. "Good morning" Matthew said a little groggy. "As soon as Mommy is done taking a shower, we are going to head downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast" Andy said to Matthew as he got out of bed and stretched. "Can we go swimming?" Matthew asked him. "Yes, after Mommy leaves for the spa, we will go swimming" Andy said to Matthew as he picked out swim shorts and a white t-shirt to wear. Andy looked in his suitcase and pulled out his swim shorts and a white t-shirt as well.

Sharon stepped out of the bathroom, after her shower, wearing shorts and a shirt. Andy walked passed her into the bathroom and quickly changed his clothes. Sharon noticed Matthew was up and stood by the window of the patio door. "How are you doing this morning?" she said to Matthew as she walked closer to him. Matthew turned around. "Better" he said to her as Andy stepped out of the bathroom. "Okay Matthew, your turn and then we head to breakfast" Andy said to him and Matthew grabbed his clothes to change into and ran towards the bathroom. Sharon smiled at Andy, wearing his swim shorts and t-shirt, as he came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You look so sexy wearing that. I'm almost sorry I won't be able to join you guys at the pool this morning" Sharon said to Andy as he pulled her in for a kiss.

Matthew came out of the bathroom changed in his swim shorts and t-shirt. "I'm ready for breakfast!" Matthew said to them as he walked over and threw his pajamas on top of his suitcase. "Look at both of you, my two handsome boys" Sharon said as she looked at Matthew and Andy. "Okay, I'm ready too. Where's the room key?" Sharon asked Andy as she grabbed her purse and a small bag to bring with. Andy handed her one room key and he took the other one. Both Andy and Matthew grabbed their swim towels and the three of them exited the hotel room, making their way downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** This chapter is a little shorter than the other ones...

Chapter 15

After the three of them ate breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel, Matthew waited in the lobby area as Sharon looked at a map of the hotel to find out where the spa was located. Andy walked out of the restaurant after he paid the bill and walked up to Sharon. Andy leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Do you know where you are going?" he asked her as he looked over her shoulder at the map. "Yes, it's right down this corridor" Sharon said as she pointed the direction. She gave him a kiss. "Enjoy your swim" she said to him and then walked over to Matthew. "Behave yourself in the pool, okay Matthew?" Sharon said to him. "Okay, Mommy" Matthew answered her and Sharon walked towards the spa.

Matthew and Andy then headed over to the outdoor pool area and found a good spot to place their towels on two lounge chairs. The pool was nice and not crowded at all. Andy took off his shirt and placed it on the chair before walking over to the pool. He stuck his hand in the water to check the temperature. Matthew took off his shirt too as he wanted to be just like Andy and then he walked over to where Andy was standing. "Hang on, before we enter, you need sunscreen on buddy" Andy said as he walked back to the chairs and took out the sunscreen Sharon had packed them in a small bag. Andy took out the spray, shook it, and then sprayed Matthew's arms, legs, feet, hands, and then rubbed some on his neck. He did the same to himself and then placed the spray back in the bag. "Are you ready?" Andy asked Matthew and Matthew nodded. Andy stepped down the stairs, into the pool and submerged himself in the water. Matthew waited for Andy to come back up in the water before he stepped in.

Andy saw Matthew hesitate at the pool's edge. "It's fine Matthew, the water is not too cold" Andy said to him. Matthew then stepped down the stairs of the pool and once in, he started to swim, or dog paddle, over to where Andy was standing. "See you're doing great!" Andy said to him as Matthew joined him. The pool was not deep at all, 5 feet all around, which made it easy for Matthew to swim. He practiced his swim strokes that Andy and Sharon had taught him and he was doing really well. Andy was very proud of Matthew.

Meanwhile, Sharon made it to the spa inside the hotel and checked herself in at the front desk. She didn't know what Andy had booked for her but she knew that whatever he did, he wanted her to have a relaxing time and forget about everything that went on at work. "Mrs. Flynn?" the hostess said to Sharon. Sharon looked up from her seat and walked over to the desk. "Yes" she said to them. "Sarah will take you back now. Enjoy" the hostess told Sharon and Sharon followed Sarah in to another room. "There are lockers here for you to keep your things in, just take the key with you. Here is a robe for you to wear. You are going to have a 60 minute massage with our stress relief essential oils" Sarah informed Sharon. "Thank you" Sharon said and she placed her things inside the locker and locked it, taking the key with her. She put the robe on and made her way back to where Sarah was waiting.

She then followed Sarah in to the next room where there was a massage table, a cart full of candles, oils, rocks, and heated towels awaiting her. "I will step out of the room, disrobe and lay on the table, on your stomach, and pull the blanket over you" Sarah told Sharon and she left the room. Sharon did that and laid on the table, face down, under the blankets. The table was heated and being engulfed in the warmness felt nice. Sarah then knocked on the door and came back in to the room and started the massage on Sharon.

Back at the pool, Andy was sitting on the side of the pool now with his feet dangling in the pool as he watched Matthew swim back around the area. "Don't go off to far!" Andy told him and Matthew swam back over to the area that Andy was in. Andy jumped back down into the pool to join Matthew. "Want to have a race?" Matthew asked him. "A race?" Andy said. "Yes" Matthew replied. "Hmm, I don't know. You are a pretty good swimmer now" Andy said to him. "Come on Dad!" Matthew said. "Okay, go!" Andy said and they started to swim across the pool width, a much shorter distance. Andy got to the side of the pool first but waited for Matthew to catch up and then when Matthew made the turn Andy slowly started to swim again, and Matthew won the race. Matthew held his hands up and waited for Andy who was right behind him. "Wow! You are a fast swimmer!" Andy said to him. Matthew smiled and then headed for the stairs to exit the pool.

Matthew walked over to the lounge chair where his towel was at and he dried himself off. Andy followed him out of the pool and took his towel to dry himself off. Matthew then laid the towel on the chair and sat down on the chair and relaxed. Andy did the same thing and as he sat on the lounge chair, he pulled out his phone and looked for a restaurant the three of them could go to tonight after the game. Matthew looked in the small bag that Sharon had brought down with them and pulled out one of his story books. He leaned back on to the chair and started reading it. It was a new Batman book and there was a note inside the front page. It said 'Dear Matthew, I hope you are excited about this trip we are all taking together. Here's a little something I got you to read. I hope you enjoy it. Love, Mom'.

Andy looked over at Matthew, who had found a book in the bag that Sharon gave them to take to the pool. "What's that you got, buddy?" Andy asked him. Matthew looked over at him. "A new Batman book that Mom bought me for this trip!" Matthew said to Andy as he smiled. "That's great!" Andy said as he glanced at his phone to check the time. 'Sharon should be done with her massage by now' he thought to himself.

Back in the spa, Sarah was finished with the massage on Sharon. She showed Sharon where to go to return to the lockers. "Thank you" Sharon said to Sarah as she walked back to the locker room. She felt like a new person after that massage, and the oils used on her skin were amazing. It was exactly what she needed and she would definitely have to thank Andy later. Sharon got dressed and made her way out of the spa. She pulled out her phone and texted Andy, asking him where they were. Andy looked at his phone at Sharon's text message and replied that they were still at the pool.

Sharon made her way out to the pool to join them. She saw them both lying on the lounge chairs and walked over to them. She sat down on the same chair next to Andy and leaned in, kissing him. "How was your massage?" Andy asked her as they pulled apart. "Wonderful, thank you Andy" Sharon said to him as she looked in his eyes. "I hope you were able to relax" Andy said to her as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms as she sat next to him. "Oh, yes I did, and I will have to thank you later for that" Sharon said seductively to him. Andy gave her a huge grin. Sharon smiled back at him and then glanced over at Matthew who was reading the book Sharon got him.

"Did you two have fun in the pool?" Sharon asked Matthew as he looked up and over at Sharon. "Yes, we had a race, I won!" Matthew said to her. She glanced over at Andy and Andy shrugged his shoulders. "He's a good swimmer now" Andy said to her as he rubbed her back. "Why don't we head back to the room, so that we can get ready to go to the ballpark" Sharon said to the two of them. Matthew sat up right away and placed the book back in the bag. "Okay!" he said excitedly. Sharon and Andy followed Matthew back up to the room. They were walking hand in hand as Matthew was ahead of them. "I hope you were able to relax for at least an hour" Andy said as he whispered that in her ear. "Oh yes, I did, thank you" Sharon said to him as they walked to their room. Matthew was waiting at the room door for them.

Andy unlocked the door as he looked at Sharon. She smiled at him and that smile told him that she was happy. "Matthew, why don't you go get ready first" Sharon said to him as Matthew walked in to the room and placed the small bag back on the desk. "You need to take a shower and rinse off all the chlorine from the pool, too" Sharon added as she walked over to where Matthew was standing in front of his suitcase. Matthew hung his head at the mention of a shower. "Do I have to?" Matthew asked Sharon as he turned around holding his Dodgers jersey, underwear, and a pair of shorts. "Come on, I'll get the shower started for you, you step inside, rinse off, and then holler when you are done, okay?" Sharon said to him as she made her way to the bathroom.

Sharon got the shower ready for Matthew and he stepped in. "Now, rinse off, and use soap!" Sharon said as she reminded him. "I will" Matthew yelled out over the running water. Sharon then closed the door to the bathroom and made her way over to where Andy was standing in front of his suitcase. She wrapped her hands around his chest and leaned up against his back. Andy turned around and wrapped his hands around her back. Sharon leaned up and fully kissed him on his lips. Andy moaned as Sharon deepened the kiss. "I love you" Sharon said to him as she pulled apart. "I love you too" Andy said to her. She reached for Andy's shirt and pulled it over his head. His hands were making their way to the front of her shirt when they heard Matthew call out. "I'm done now!" he called out to them. Sharon laid her head on Andy's bare chest and Andy groaned.

"Okay!" Sharon called out to Matthew as she backed away from Andy's embrace. Before she did so, Andy pulled her in for another kiss. "Till later" he whispered to her. She smiled back at him, blew a kiss in his direction as she made her way over to the bathroom. She knocked on the door and peeked her head in the room. Matthew was out of the shower. He had also turned the water off by himself. 'There was no rush' Sharon thought to herself as she made sure Matthew was all set. "Everything okay here?" she asked him as he wrapped himself in a towel and dried off. Matthew nodded and Sharon closed the door. She then turned her attention back to Andy who was watching her.

She walked back over to him and he held his arms open for her. She stepped in to his embrace and wrapped her arms around his bare back. She rested her face against his chest, casually placed kisses along his collar bone. Andy held her in his arms until Matthew came out of the bathroom, all dressed for the game. Sharon moved from his embrace. "Your turn" she whispered to him. The look that she gave Andy made him want her more but he knew that he'd have to wait, at least until they got back to LA. Andy reluctantly grabbed his clothes and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Sharon had a seat at the desk and looked over one of the brochures that was in the room, trying to take her mind off of Andy in the shower. "Can I turn the TV on?" Matthew asked Sharon. "Sure honey" Sharon said as she looked at Matthew, sitting on his bed. He already had the remote control in his hand before Sharon answered him.

Andy quickly took a shower and got dressed. He stepped out of the bathroom wearing his Dodgers jersey and a pair of shorts. He noticed that Sharon was already wearing her Dodgers jersey over her shirt. Matthew was watching some cartoon on TV. "Are you all ready to go now?" Andy asked them as he walked over to the desk and took out the baseball and picture that Provenza gave him to have autographed. "Here, you can place them in this bag that I'm taking with" Sharon said to Andy as she held open the bag for him. Matthew had turned the TV off and stood by the door, waiting on Sharon and Andy. "Where's your glove?" Andy asked Matthew. Matthew ran over to his backpack and pulled it out. He then made his way back to the door. "Alright, let's go!" Andy said to Sharon and Matthew as the three of them walked out of the hotel room. Sharon held Andy's hand as they walked towards the elevator. Matthew waited for them and then pushed the button for the elevator to come. They stepped inside and Matthew pushed the button for the lobby. As the doors closed, Sharon reached over and gave Andy a kiss on his cheek. They then made their way to their car and everyone got in. 'This was going to be fun!' they all thought to themselves as Andy drove them over to Camelback Ranch Stadium.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 16

Andy pulled in to the parking lot of the stadium and followed the directions of where the parking attendant told him to go. He pulled up in a nice spot and turned the car off. Matthew was super excited and opened his back door before Andy or Sharon could get out. "Hey! Wait for us Matthew!" Andy called out to him and Matthew did. He stood by the car waiting for them to join him outside. Sharon made sure that they had everything with them and Andy walked around to the other side of the car. "Walk with us here and then you can go ahead once we get to the fields" Sharon said to Matthew as the three of them headed from the parking lot to the entrance way.

Everywhere Matthew looked there were baseball fields surrounding him. The stadium was to their right, and the practice fields were to their left as they walked in. "Where are our seats?" Sharon asked Andy as she had her left arm around his back. "Next to the Dodgers' dugout" Andy said nonchalantly. Sharon stopped right there and looked at Andy. Andy turned around to look at her. "What?" Andy said to her as he looked over to where Matthew was standing. Matthew was looking at all of the different statues that were standing there of former players. Sharon shook her head at Andy and rejoined him. "I figured this would give Matthew the opportunity to see the players up close" Andy said to her as they continued to walk in the stadium.

They walked past a concession stand that was selling food from Dodger Dogs to Hamburgers to Pizza. Matthew walked over to where Sharon was standing in line at the concession stand. "Would you like something to eat?" she asked Matthew as he looked over the menu. "What's a Dodger dog?" Matthew asked Sharon. "It's an extra-long hot dog on a bun, maybe 10 inches, with pickle relish and mustard" Sharon said to Matthew as she looked at him. Matthew thought about it. "Can I get one but plain?" Matthew asked her. "Sure, actually they all come plain, you just add whatever you want over there" Sharon said as she pointed to the condiments. Matthew waited with Sharon as she ordered three Dodger dogs for the three of them and then three bottles of water.

Andy waited by the pick-up window as Sharon found them a place to sit down. Matthew waited with Andy now and he couldn't stand still. Their order came up and Andy carried the tray of Dodger dogs and bottles of water over to the condiments. "Can you go ask Mom what she wants on her dog?" Andy asked Matthew and Matthew ran over to where Sharon was sitting at a picnic table. "Mom, what do you want on your dog?" Matthew asked her. "Oh, I'll have pickle relish and mustard please" Sharon said to him. "Okay" Matthew said as he turned around and ran back over to Andy. "She wants pickle relish and mustard" Matthew told Andy as he watched Andy place the mustard on the hot dog. Andy fixed his and Sharon's hot dog. "Matthew, what do you want on your hot dog?" Andy asked him. "Just plain, please" Matthew answered and when they were done, they headed over to where Sharon was sitting.

"Okay, here you go, one Dodger dog for you, one for you Matthew, and one for me" Andy said as he passed out the hot dogs. Andy was actually surprised Sharon had let him enjoy a Dodger dog since he was on his strict heart diet. The park was not too crowded as people started to walk in. Some of the players were already on the field, warming up, doing their stretches, and engaging in batting practice. After the three of them were done eating, Andy suggested that they head down towards the field so that he could try to get some autographs for Provenza, and for Matthew too.

As they walked down the rows to their seats by the Dodgers' dugout, Matthew started to get a little shy as he saw all of the players on the field, up close. He waited for Sharon and then clung to her side as they walked down. Sharon stopped and looked down at Matthew. "What's the matter?" she asked him. "It's just they're so big!" Matthew said to her as Andy waited for them at the first row. Andy was speaking with one of the players who was standing by the dugout. Sharon and Matthew continued to walk down to where Andy was standing. Andy noticed Matthew clinging to Sharon. "I think he's a little shy now that he sees all the players up close" Sharon said to Andy before he could say anything.

Andy knelt down to Matthew and placed his hand on his back. "Hey, I was just talking with one of the players and he's really excited to meet you" Andy said to Matthew. Matthew hesitated but let go of Sharon's arm and he walked with Andy who introduced him to the player he talked to earlier. "Adrian, this is my son, Matthew" Andy said to Adrian Gonzalez, the first baseman for the Dodgers. Matthew was complete star struck at this moment. Adrian shook Matthew's hand. "Nice to meet you Matthew. I heard you are a big fan, like your father here" Adrian said to Matthew. Matthew was speechless but he nodded his head.

"I like your jersey" Adrian said to Matthew and Matthew smiled, turned around and showed him the back of the jersey. "That's my new name on there" he said to Adrian. Adrian looked at Andy. "We adopted him, not too long ago" Andy clarified. "Wow, that's really awesome!" Adrian said to Matthew and gave him a high five. "Do you have a pen, or marker?" Adrian asked Andy. Andy looked at Sharon who dug in the bag she was carrying and found a pen. She handed the pen to Andy who in turn, handed the pen to Adrian Gonzalez. Sharon also handed Andy the picture and the baseball that Provenza wanted autographed. Adrian then asked Matthew for his baseball glove and Matthew gave it to him. He then signed the glove and gave it back to Matthew. Matthew's eyes went wide and a huge smile came across his face. "Thank you!" Matthew said and he turned to Sharon to show her.

Andy then handed Adrian the ball and picture for Provenza. "If you could also sign these, they're for my partner" Andy said to Adrian as he handed them the items. "Sure, anything for the LAPD" Adrian said as he signed both items and handed them back to Andy. "Thanks" Andy said to him. "Lieutenant, it was nice meeting you and your son, Matthew" he said to Andy as he looked over at Sharon. "Is this your wife?" he asked Andy. "Yes, this is my wife, Captain Sharon Flynn, also LAPD" Andy said proudly to Adrian. Adrian shook Sharon's hand. "Nice to meet you" Adrian said to her. "Nice to meet you too" Sharon said to him. "So you keep him in line at work and at home?" Adrian said to Sharon jokingly. "Oh yes, I try to" Sharon said to him. "Well, I have to get back to the clubhouse, but if you ever need anything, like tickets to a game, I'm always grateful for what you guys do protecting our great city" Adrian told them and then he handed Andy a piece of paper as he walked back to the clubhouse.

Andy then turned to Sharon. Sharon raised her eyebrows in wonder as they took their seats. "Wow! I didn't know you had connections" Sharon said to Andy as they sat down. "I don't. He just happened to be standing there, so I started talking to him" Andy said to Sharon. Sharon shook her head. Andy sat in the middle between Sharon and Matthew. Matthew kept staring at Adrian Gonzalez's signature on his glove. Andy handed Sharon the ball and picture and she placed them back in the bag. Matthew was leaning against the brick side of the wall as he was sitting in his seat, watching the players stretch and throw before the game started.

The game was going to start soon, and the Dodgers were taking the field. The crowd stood up for the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. Andy and Matthew removed their hats as the singer sang the anthem. Matthew placed his hand over his heart. After the song was over, the players took the field and the game started. The Dodgers collected three outs quickly and it was their turn to bat as they came off the field. On the way to the dugout, Adrian Gonzalez ran over to where Matthew was cheering and gave him the ball from him glove. Matthew was in awe. "Thank you!" he called out to Adrian and then he sat back down in his seat. Andy and Sharon watched Matthew during the exchange and they were very happy for him.

During the rest of the game, Matthew watched the players every chance he got while Andy had his arm around Sharon, as they both watched the game. The game was getting to the 9th inning and the Dodgers were winning 4-2. The closing pitcher came in for the Dodgers and threw 3 pitches for 3 outs and the Dodgers won the game. Matthew was so excited that they won. He sat back down in his seat and turned to Andy and Sharon as people started to leave the seating area. "Did you have a good time?" Andy asked Matthew as they sat there for a few more minutes. "Yes, I really enjoyed it" Matthew said to them. Sharon glanced at her watch. "If you want to Matthew, when we get back to the hotel, you could go swimming again" Sharon said to Matthew as she stood up from her seat. Andy and Matthew stood up and started to follow the crowd out of the seats.

"Will you be joining us at the pool also?" Andy whispered into Sharon's ear as they made their way up to the main walkway in the stadium. "Hmm, I'll have to think about it" Sharon said teasingly to Andy. Andy took a deep breath and sighed. She knew she was killing him and she seemed to enjoy it at the moment. Andy stood there waiting for an answer before Matthew dragged him over to where the Team Store was at. "Can we go inside and look around?" Matthew asked Andy. Andy looked back at Sharon who was walking behind them now. "For a few minutes, sure" he said to Matthew as they stepped inside the store. Sharon followed them inside.

The store had everything with the Dodgers and the White Sox, since they shared the stadium. Matthew went over to where there was a display of individual baseball cards and found Adrian Gonzalez's card. He took it off of the rack and showed it to Sharon. "Do you think I could get this?" Matthew asked Sharon. Sharon looked at the baseball card. It was encased in a plastic sleeve already to protect it. She looked at the price, it was eight dollars. She remembered when Ricky collected his baseball cards, and how he would go to the store and search all of the baseball cards for the deck he didn't have. "Sure Matthew" Sharon said to him.

Andy was looking around the store at the different shirts they had there. They had a spring training shirt that Andy was looking at when Sharon and Matthew walked up to him. "That shirt looks nice" Sharon said to him as Andy was holding it up to get a better view. "Would you like one?" Andy asked Sharon. Sharon thought about it. "No, I'll just borrow yours" she said to him, knowing that he'd let her borrow his Dodgers shirts all the time. Andy just shook his head as he grabbed the shirt in his size and headed towards the registers with Sharon and Matthew. "Just the shirt and card today?" the store clerk asked Andy as he stood at the cash register. "Yes, that's it" Andy answered her. "Okay" the clerk said and rang up their merchandise. Andy paid the amount and then the three of them exited the store.

They made their way back to their car and then headed back to the hotel. When they arrived at their room, Matthew went over to his bag and placed his baseball card inside it. "Can we go to the pool now?" Matthew asked Sharon. "Yes, of course. Go get yourself ready" Sharon said to Matthew and he walked in to the bathroom to change into his swim shorts. Andy sat on the edge of their bed as Sharon stood between his legs. "You can be next and change after he's done" Andy said to Sharon as he wrapped his hands around her waist. Matthew came out of the bathroom as Sharon stepped away from Andy. She went searching in her bag for her bathing suit and once she found it, she went in to the bathroom and changed.

Andy laid back on the bed and waited for Sharon to finish changing her clothes. Matthew walked over to where Andy was laying. Andy's eyes were closed as Matthew came up really close to Andy's face. "Are you tired Dad?" Matthew asked him in a whisper. Andy opened his left eye and looked at Matthew. "No, I'm not tired" Andy said to Matthew. Sharon walked out of the bathroom and placed her clothes in her suitcase. She had a white coverall wrapped around her. Her swimsuit was black with white polka dots and Andy saw her exit the bathroom. He jumped up from the bed and turned to Matthew. "No Matthew, not tired at all" he said to Matthew as he walked past Sharon, placing a kiss on her cheek as he made his way to the bathroom to change into his swim shorts.

Sharon watched him go into the bathroom and then turned around to face Matthew. "Are you all ready?" she asked him as she smoothed his hair on his head. "Yes" he answered her. Just then Andy came out wearing his swim shorts and he threw on a t-shirt. "Ready?" he said to Sharon and Matthew as he grabbed towels for them to have. They made their way down to the pool. Andy held Sharon's hand as they walked and Matthew was walking ahead of them. The pool was a little more crowded this time but Matthew was able to find three lounge chairs next to each other. He placed his towel on one of the chairs and waited for Sharon and Andy to catch up.

"Wait for us, Matthew" Sharon said to him as he started walking over to the pool. Matthew stopped and waited. "I got him" Andy told Sharon as he kissed her cheek. Andy took his shirt off and handed it to Sharon. He joined Matthew by the pool and Andy got into the pool. Matthew waited and then jumped in. Andy stood by the side of the pool and watched Matthew swim. He turned around to see where Sharon was and he saw her un-tie the wrap she was wearing over her swimsuit. He then pulled on his right ear as the sight he saw made him breathless. Andy didn't notice the other men at the pool, who were also staring at Sharon as she made her way over to the pool to join Andy. She used the stairs to get in and then she swam over to where Andy was standing and came up right in front of him.

"Hi" she said as she looked at him. "Hi" he said barely above a whisper as he watched her. He wrapped his hands around her and she kissed him. She then stood next to him in the pool, and the two of them sank down so just their heads and shoulders were above the water. Now Andy noticed all the men looking at Sharon. "It seems you created quite the following here" he said to her as they joined their hands under the water. "Every guy here is looking at you" he whispered to her. "You're absolutely breathtaking" he added. She smiled at him. "They're looking at you, wanting to be you right now" she said to him as she caressed his thigh with her free hand. Andy shuddered at that gesture. They continued to watch Matthew swim the rest of the time. Matthew challenged Sharon for a swimming race just like he had with Andy this morning.

They stayed down at the pool for about two hours before heading back to their room. As they entered their room, Matthew went to take a shower first and change his clothes as they were going out for dinner. Andy had found a nice family restaurant nearby and Sharon agreed to go there tonight for dinner. As Matthew was taking a shower, Andy pulled Sharon in his embrace and started to kiss her ear and down her jaw line. "You're driving me crazy, Sharon" Andy said to her in between kisses. Sharon caressed his back, but before they got too far, Sharon heard the water turn off in the bathroom. She pulled apart from Andy as he panted, catching his breath.

"Start your shower, and I will join you once I get Matthew settled out here" she said to him as Matthew came out of the bathroom. Andy's eyes turned a deep brown with desire for her right there as he gathered his things and went into the bathroom. He turned the shower on and stepped inside, rinsing himself off before Sharon joined him. Sharon was gathering her clothes as Matthew sat on his bed. "Do you want to watch TV?" Sharon asked him as he put his socks on. "Yes" he said to her and Sharon turned the TV on and turned the channel to the Disney Channel. Star Wars Rebels were on and Matthew enjoyed watching that. "We'll be right out, Matthew" Sharon said to him. "Okay" Matthew said, not noticing that his parents would be in the bathroom at the same time, he was too engrossed with watching what was happening to Darth Maul and Obi Wan Kenobi.

Sharon stepped in to the bathroom and quickly removed her swimsuit. Andy pulled back the shower curtain and helped her step inside the tub. He kissed her quickly as he maneuvered her in the shower. "He's watching TV right now" she said to Andy as she kissed him back, fiercely. Andy caressed her body and took some body wash from the container and started to wash Sharon's arms, waist, and eventually her whole body. Sharon was enjoying the sensation he was giving her and then he rinsed her off. Andy turned off the water and stepped out first, grabbing a towel for Sharon and wrapping her in it. He then grabbed a towel for himself and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist when he was done.

They both changed into their clothes and stepped outside the bathroom. Matthew was still watching TV. Sharon placed her sandals on her feet and grabbed a cardigan sweater to wear over her shirt. "Alright, Matthew, let's get going" Andy said to Matthew as he gathered his wallet and car keys. He placed his phone in his pocket of his shorts. Sharon grabbed her purse but Matthew was still watching TV. "Matthew, please turn the TV off now" Sharon said to him. "Okay, just one minute" Matthew said to them as he walked towards the TV still watching what was happening on the screen. Sharon glanced at Andy and he shrugged his shoulders. Matthew then turned the TV off and joined them by the door. They then left the hotel and headed towards the restaurant that Andy found earlier.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were able to be seated right away. They placed their order when the waitress came by. Matthew was coloring on the kid's menu paper. Sharon sat next to him in the booth and Andy sat across from the two of them. Matthew talked about how great the baseball game was. Their dinners came and they ate. Sharon and Andy sat there and talked about everything and what they were going to do there tomorrow. The baseball game was later in the day tomorrow so they would have the whole morning and a part of the afternoon to do something together as a family. Phoenix was not too far away from them and they had a really good Zoo there. Matthew was excited and chimed in on the conversation. "Yes, let's go to the Zoo!" he said to Sharon and Andy. "Okay, I guess that's where we are going tomorrow before the game" Andy said as he looked at Sharon, and gave her a smile.

They were finished eating and Matthew had fallen asleep next to Sharon in the booth. Andy held Sharon's hand on the table, and gently caressed it with his fingers. She smiled at him, she couldn't help herself. "Thank you for a wonderful weekend so far" she said to Andy. "You're welcome" Andy said to Sharon as the waitress came back. "Would you care for dessert tonight?" she asked them. Sharon looked at Andy and then at Matthew who was sleeping still. Andy shook his head no. "I think we're good here" Sharon said to the waitress. "Okay, I will just leave the check then" she said as she placed the check on the table and cleared some dishes away. Andy grabbed the check and took his credit card out to pay. The waitress then came back for the check. Sharon started to wake up Matthew. The waitress brought the check back with Andy's card and he paid the bill, leaving a nice tip for the waitress. Sharon got Matthew up and the two of them headed towards the door with Andy following behind them.

"I guess someone's exhausted from all of the activities today" Andy said as he held the door open for Matthew to climb in to the backseat. He closed the door once he was inside and then made sure Sharon was ready in the front before walking around to the driver's side and getting in. Andy then drove them back to the hotel and they got to their room. Once inside, Sharon helped Matthew change in to his pajamas and then tucked Matthew in his bed. "Good night sweetie" she said to him as she kissed his forehead. Matthew then fell asleep with no problem.

Andy and Sharon both got themselves ready for bed. Andy was already lying in bed when Sharon joined him. She settled in against his side and Andy wrapped his arm around her, holding her close to him. Sharon kissed him and he kissed her back. "Good night Andy" she whispered to him as she laid her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. "Good night beautiful" Andy said to her and they both fell asleep.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 17

Andy woke up Sunday morning to Sharon who was still sleeping in his arms. He gently rose up, not to disturb Sharon as he glanced over at the clock to see what time it was. The clock said 6:30 in red numbers. Sharon stirred a little as Andy settled back down on the mattress. She snuggled in closer to his chest. "What time is it?" she asked him. "Six thirty" he whispered to her as he rubbed his hands up and down her arm and back. Sharon opened her eyes and looked at Andy who was looking right back at her. He gave her a smile and she smiled back, reached up, and kissed him. "I could lay in your arms forever" she said to him. "That's the plan" he said to her as he held her tighter to him.

Five minutes later, Sharon's alarm went off on her phone. She hated to leave the warm embrace she was in, but the alarm was really annoying. She rolled over and turned the alarm on her phone off. She then placed the phone back on the night stand. She glanced over at Matthew who was still sleeping. She was grateful for that. She then rolled back into Andy's chest and he held her to him. "What time do we need to leave by in order to get to the Zoo?" Sharon asked Andy as they laid in bed together. Neither one wanting to get up right away. "If we leave the hotel by 8:30 that should give us enough time. The Zoo opens at 9" Andy said to her.

Sharon continued to lay there in Andy's arms. She enjoyed listening to his heart beating. She felt protected and loved, enveloped in Andy's arms. She sighed for a moment and he did as well. They both knew they were going to have to get up if they wanted to leave the hotel by 8:30 this morning. "Why don't you get ready first, I'll wake up Matthew and get him ready" Andy said to Sharon as Sharon leaned in and kissed his neck, over the faint scar he had from his blood clot surgery. "Hmmm, okay" Sharon said as she reluctantly removed herself from his arms and started to get out of bed. She used the light from the desk to see where she was going in the room. Sharon gathered her things and clothes for the day and went in to the bathroom to get herself ready.

Andy rolled over and got out of bed. He made his way over to where Matthew was sleeping and he turned on the light by his bed. Matthew was clutching his teddy bear and Andy gently rubbed his shoulder to wake him up. "Matthew, hey buddy, time to wake up" Andy said to Matthew as he started to stir. Matthew opened his eyes and saw Andy. "Morning" Matthew said in a groggy voice. "Morning kiddo" Andy said to him. Matthew started to get out of bed as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He sat there on the edge of the bed, staring off when Andy looked at him. "You okay?" Andy asked him and Matthew nodded. "I'm fine" he said to Andy and then shakily stood up and made his way to his suitcase to pick out his clothes to wear for the day.

"We're going to the Zoo, right?" Matthew asked Andy as Andy turned on the rest of the lights in the room. "Yes, it might be a little cooler in the morning here, so bring a sweatshirt" Andy told Matthew as Andy turned the TV on to the weather channel to see what the weather was outside. Matthew picked out the clothes he wanted to wear and Sharon exited the bathroom. Matthew then went inside the bathroom and changed his clothes. Once Matthew was finished, Andy did the same thing and got dressed for the day. They were all ready to go a couple of minutes later, so they headed down to the hotel restaurant where they ate breakfast.

An hour later, they were headed towards Phoenix and the Zoo. Matthew was all excited as Andy pulled off on the exit for the Zoo. They waited in line to park the car and then once the car was parked, Sharon, Andy, and Matthew walked over to the main entrance of the Zoo. Sharon, Andy, and Matthew walked over to the ticket counter. They decided to get a special pass for the day which allowed for a special entry to the Zoo's stingray exhibit, which Matthew was really looking forward too. They then made their way towards the front of the Zoo and Sharon took a picture of Matthew and Andy standing in front of a bird statue.

They then made their way to the Arizona Trail section of the Zoo where the coyotes, vultures, wolves, and eagles were located. As they walked around the walking path in the area, Matthew stopped as he heard the wolves howling with one another. He was mesmerized by the sound they were making. "Can I get my picture taken in front of the wolves?" Matthew asked Sharon. "Sure, sweetie" Sharon said as Matthew stood in front of the enclosure where the wolves were located. Sharon waited for one of the wolves to be in the picture before she snapped it. "Did you know, wolves and dogs are closely related?" Matthew told Andy as he held his hand as they continued walking through the trail. "That's really neat" Andy said to Matthew. Andy of course knew that already but wanted Matthew to tell him anyway. He glanced over at Sharon who was now looking at the bird enclosure and saw a bald eagle high up on a tree perch. She quickly took a picture of the bald eagle as they kept walking.

Andy and Matthew went ahead slightly to another area where there were all different types of snakes. Sharon did not want to go in that area so she waited for them outside by the prairie dog area. There was a bench so she sat there and decided to text Rusty to see how he was doing with Moxie. Matthew was really interested in seeing the snakes up close because he had studied them last year in school. All of the snakes were in a glass enclosure and Matthew saw a rattlesnake. "Those guys are dangerous" he said to Andy. "Yes, they are. We do not want to get close to it, believe me" Andy said to Matthew as they continued walking around. They exited the snake area and joined Sharon at the prairie dogs. Matthew saw them peek up from under the ground. "Oh, they're so cute!" he said to Sharon.

They continued over to the savannah area of the Zoo where they saw giraffes, zebras, and lions. They walked over to the giraffe overlook and Matthew and Andy climbed up to the top of the tower to see the whole area. Sharon stayed down at the base. Matthew looked through the binoculars that were up there as Andy pointed in the area for Matthew to look at. He saw the lions in the distance and also the zebras. As they made their way back down to the ground level, Matthew mis-stepped on one of the stairs and slid down the last two steps. Andy rushed down to his side. Sharon saw the whole thing happen and was right there as well. "Matthew" she gasped.

"Matthew!" Andy said as he reached down to help him up. Sharon was by both of them now. "I'm okay" Matthew said as he dusted himself off. Sharon looked him over, but didn't see any blood, just a scrape on Matthew's arm. "I'm okay, Mommy" Matthew muttered to Sharon. One of the workers at the Zoo came over to where they were standing. "Is everything okay here?" they asked them. "I think we're okay" Sharon said to them, still looking Matthew over. "We're good, thank you" Andy said to the worker and then walked Matthew over to the nearest bench with Sharon. Andy looked him over as Sharon sat next to Matthew on the bench. Matthew was a little embarrassed at the moment. "I'm fine, Dad" Matthew said to him as Andy looked closely at his arm. "Okay, just making sure" Andy said to Matthew as he glanced over at Sharon, who was also concerned at the moment. Sharon pulled out some Neosporin from her purse and placed some ointment on Matthew's arm.

They sat on the bench a couple of more minutes before Matthew got up and ran over to where the zebras were across from the bench. He watched them for a couple of minutes. Sharon grabbed Andy's hand as they followed him over there. "See, he bounced back like it was nothing" Andy said to her as they walked up behind Matthew. "This is so cool!" Matthew said to Sharon and Andy as he turned around to them. Sharon nodded and smiled at Matthew. She was glad he was having a good time here. She was worried that he would not be enjoying this trip, with how he was their first night at the hotel. She understood that he was a little nervous and unsure because he'd never been anywhere before. She was now happy that he was having such a good time. That made Sharon relax even more.

Andy looked at the map Sharon had of the Zoo and saw that they were close to the tigers. "Hey Matthew, do you want to go see the tigers?" Andy asked Matthew as they continued walking. "Yeah, let's go!" Matthew said as he tugged on Andy's left hand. "Okay, it's right over this way" Andy said as he pointed to the direction and handed the map back to Sharon. Sharon stopped to put it away and now she was walking behind Andy and Matthew. The sight before her brought a smile to her face. Andy was holding Matthew's hand as the two of them walked ahead of her towards the tiger area. She pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a candid picture of them. She had heard back from Rusty saying that everything was okay at the house and that he hoped they were enjoying their trip. Sharon placed her phone away and joined them where they stopped to look at a tiger playing with a ball.

Matthew watched the tiger play as Andy watched Sharon come up to them. Sharon had a smile on her face when Andy turned around to her. She wrapped her left arm around him and Andy pulled her into his side, his right arm around her. "Rusty says everything is okay at the house" Sharon said to Andy. "Good" Andy said to her as he kissed the top of her head. Matthew turned around and looked across the way. He saw two elephants walking around on the other side and wanted to go over to see them. "Can I go over there now?" Matthew asked them as he pointed in the direction of the elephants. "Sure" Andy said to Matthew and they followed Matthew over to the elephant enclosure. The elephants were walking around, eating their morning breakfast. They were also playing with some water buckets, which made Matthew laugh.

They continued walking around the Zoo, seeing the monkeys, alligators, turtles, and a cheetah. Sharon looked at her watch. It was getting close to the time they had for their Stingray encounter. As they made their way towards the Stingray Bay, Matthew stopped Sharon. "I have to go to the bathroom" he said to her. "Okay, there's one over here" Sharon said to Matthew as they walked over to where it was located. Sharon waited outside while Andy took Matthew in. A minute later, Matthew came out ahead of Andy and ran up to where Sharon was waiting. "Did you wash your hands?" Sharon asked him and Matthew nodded. She then glanced over at Andy who nodded as well. They then made their way over to the stingrays and showed the attendant there, their tickets.

Matthew loved the stingrays. While they were there, he got to feed them fish and shrimp, and they took it directly from Matthew's hand, which he thought was so cool. Sharon took a picture of Matthew feeding them and of Andy and Matthew at the tank. "Sharon, you got to try this" Andy said to her, but she shook her head. "No, I'm good" Sharon said. "Come on, they're not going to bite you, and they feel really cool to touch" Andy said to her. "Yeah, come on Mom" Matthew said to her. "Oh, alright" Sharon said as she walked over to them and Andy took her hand. "See, you just place your hand like this and they come up to you and swim right underneath your touch" Andy said to her. A stingray swam underneath Sharon's hand and it felt weird to touch them. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Andy whispered to her and she closed her eyes. "No" she answered him as he took her hand and wiped it off with a towel that was provided. Andy smiled at her as he dried her hand off and then did the same to his and Matthew's hands.

Andy glanced at his watch, it was now noon and they walked out of the Stingray Bay. "Okay, where to next?" he said to them. "I'm getting hungry" Matthew said to Sharon. "Okay, we can go eat now" Sharon said to him. "I think the food area is just over there" Andy said to Sharon as he pointed to the food court area. "Tell me what you boys want and I'll go get it, you can grab us a table" Sharon said as she looked around the area. It was getting crowded as everyone had the same idea to grab lunch. "Whatever you get is fine with me" Andy said to her as he looked at the menu. "Okay, Matthew what would you like?" Sharon asked Matthew. "Um, chicken nuggets, please" Matthew said to her and then he and Andy went looking for a seat for them.

Sharon placed their order and waited for it to come at the pick-up window. She ordered a grilled chicken salad for herself and Andy and the kid's chicken nuggets meal for Matthew. Matthew's meal came in a plastic bucket that had animal pictures all around it. Sharon brought the tray of their food to the table that Andy and Matthew saved for them. The kid's meal included the nuggets, apple sauce, a fruit punch juice box, and fries. Matthew was quickly eating everything as he was hungry. "Matthew, slow down" Andy said to him. Matthew ate all of his food before Sharon and Andy finished their salads. "Where else do you want to go here?" Sharon asked Matthew as he sat there waiting for them to finish eating. "I don't know" Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "I'd like to go see the farm" he said as he looked at the map that Sharon had pulled out of her purse.

Once they were finished eating, Sharon and Matthew walked ahead of Andy towards the farm area as Andy had thrown out their garbage. Andy was carrying the souvenir bucket that Matthew had got with his lunch. Andy caught up to them just as they entered the farm. "Hang on a second" Andy said to them as Sharon and Matthew stood at the entrance. Andy pulled out his phone and took a picture of Sharon and Matthew. "Perfect" he said as they then entered the farm. Andy had taken pictures of Sharon and Matthew at the game yesterday but didn't have any of the two at the Zoo today. He also wanted to take a selfie of him and Sharon at the Zoo to go along with the selfie he took of them yesterday at the game.

Matthew was walking around, looking at all the farm animals. He wasn't feeling good all of a sudden. He walked back over to Sharon and Andy. "Is everything okay, buddy?" Andy asked him. "Yeah, are we done here?" Matthew asked them. Sharon and Andy looked at each other. "We can get going if you want to" Sharon said to Matthew and Matthew nodded. "Okay" Andy said to them and they started walking back towards the entrance of the Zoo. They past a gift shop and Matthew wanted to go inside. "Can I get something from here?" Matthew asked Andy. "Sure buddy" Andy said as they made their way inside the store. Matthew found a stuffed animal of a wolf. "Can I get this?" he asked Sharon. "Sure" she said to him as she looked at some post cards.

Sharon paid for the gifts and then they walked out of the store and headed towards the entrance where they came. Matthew was holding his wolf when all of a sudden he made a quick dash to the nearest garbage can. Andy was right behind him and rubbed his back as Matthew threw up. Andy glanced up at Sharon and grimaced at her. Andy handed Sharon the wolf. Luckily he was still clean. Matthew threw up again and then looked over at Andy. "Here, let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Andy said as Sharon handed him some wipes she had in her purse. "Sorry" Matthew said as Andy was cleaning his face. "You don't need to be sorry" Andy said to Matthew as Sharon rubbed Matthew's back. "Do you feel better?" Sharon asked Matthew and Matthew nodded. Sharon glanced at Andy. "Let's go to the car" Andy said and then they started walking to the parking lot.

Matthew got in the backseat and put his seatbelt on. Sharon handed him the wolf back and Matthew placed the wolf on the seat next to him. Andy closed Matthew's door and then turned to Sharon who stood behind him, worried about Matthew. "He just ate too fast at lunch, probably" Andy said to Sharon as he opened her door and held it as she got in. "That, plus slipping down those stairs, he had a banner day today" Sharon said to Andy. Andy closed her door and walked around to the driver's side and got in. "We don't have to go to the game tonight, if he's still feeling sick when we get back to the hotel" Andy said to Sharon as he started the car. She smiled at him and patted his arm. "We'll see how he is once we get back" Sharon said to him and then Andy drove them back to Glendale and the hotel.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 18

They pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Andy placed the car in park and turned it off. He then turned around in his seat and looked at Matthew sitting back there. "How are you feeling?" Andy asked Matthew. "I feel better" Matthew said to him and hugged his wolf. Andy then turned around and got out of the car along with Sharon. Sharon opened up Matthew's door and Matthew got out of the car with his wolf. Andy walked around to their side of the car, and made sure that they had everything and then joined Sharon and Matthew who were already walking towards the entrance of the hotel.

They made their way up to their room and settled back in. Matthew sat on his bed while Sharon went to the bathroom. "I'm going to freshen up" she said to Andy, and Andy nodded to her. Andy then closed the door behind them and sat down at the desk that was in the room. Andy glanced at his watch, they had two hours before the baseball game started. He then watched Matthew play with his stuffed wolf and teddy bear. Sharon came out of the bathroom looking refreshed.

Sharon walked up to where Andy was sitting. "We have about an hour and a half before we need to leave for the game tonight" Andy said to her as she stood in front of him. She glanced over at Matthew and then back at Andy. She caressed his face with her hand and then walked over to Matthew's bed and sat next to him. "Matthew, do you want to go see another baseball game?" Sharon said as she ran her hand through his hair. "Yes!" Matthew said as he placed his stuffed animals down on the bed and then got up and walked over to his suitcase. He pulled out his jersey again and placed that over his clothes. "Hey, buddy, why don't you change into some fresh clothes before you put your jersey on, okay?" Andy said to Matthew. "Oh" Matthew said and then pulled out some new clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Sharon stood up and walked over to her suitcase.

Andy smiled at Sharon and took the opportunity of being alone with her. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzled her neck, and gave her a kiss. "I hope you are having a nice time" he whispered in her ear. "Oh, yes, I am" she said to him as she turned around in his arms and gave him a kiss. They smiled at each other and then Matthew came out from the bathroom, ready for the game. "I'm ready!" he said to them as they pulled away from each other. Andy allowed Sharon to go next to change her clothes. He waited with Matthew outside in their room. "So, Matthew, are you having a good time here?" Andy asked him. "Yes! This trip has been the best. I never been to the Zoo or a baseball game before and now I'm going to two games!" Matthew said to him. Andy smiled at the boy and gave a chuckle. Andy's phone then alerted him to a text message.

Andy pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen, seeing Provenza's name. He opened the message and started to read it. 'Hope your trip is good. Did you get my picture and ball signed yet?' Andy read the message. He shook his head and replied back to Provenza. 'Don't worry, I got it yesterday' he sent back to him and then closed his phone, and placed it on the desk. Sharon came out, ready for the game and then it was Andy's turn to freshen up.

Sharon walked over to where Matthew was sitting and sat down next to him. "You sure you're feeling up to going to the game now?" Sharon asked him. "Yeah, Mom, I'm feeling fine, a little hungry though" Matthew said to her. Sharon nodded as she looked at him. "Well, maybe we will get something lite to eat before we head over to the ballpark" Sharon said to him as Andy came out of the bathroom, wearing his Dodgers jersey over his new shirt. Sharon walked over to him. "You look handsome" she said to him, as she ran her hand over the back of his jersey on her way to the table. Sharon was looking through her purse, making sure she had everything she needed. "Matthew said he was hungry so I thought we would grab something lite before heading to the game, if that's okay with you" she said to Andy as she placed her purse over her shoulder.

Andy looked over at Sharon and then at Matthew. "That's fine with me" he said as he gathered his things and Matthew grabbed his baseball glove. "There's a sandwich shop right down the street on the way to the ballpark" Andy said as the three of them walked out of the room and down the hallway. Matthew ran ahead of them to press the elevator button. "I guess he is feeling much better" Andy said to Sharon as they walked together to the elevator. Sharon placed her head on his shoulder as they walked, meeting up with Matthew by the elevator doors.

As they got into the car, Sharon quickly glanced through her purse again, looking for something. "Where are the tickets?" Sharon asked Andy. "I have them" he said as he pulled them out of his pocket to show her. Andy started the car and waited for Sharon and Matthew to put on their seatbelts before driving away. "Who are the Dodgers playing tonight?" Sharon asked Andy as he drove to the sandwich shop. "The Cubs" Andy said to her. "Oh so the World Champions, Chicago Cubs, huh?" Sharon said to Andy. "Yep" Andy said as he drove them.

He thought back to the two of them watching one game of the World Series last year in October. It was during their murder investigation of the college dean. They had come home one night and the game was on. Even though their beloved Dodgers didn't make it, Sharon wanted to watch the game as she always rooted for the underdog. As they watched the game on the couch in the condo, Sharon became fascinated with the Cubs.

" _So they haven't won the World Series in how many years?" Sharon asked him. "108 years" Andy said to her as they snuggled on the couch together. Sharon sat there as they watched the game. "They're all so young" Sharon said. "And that Rizzo guy has a weird stance when he's at the plate" she added as the Cubs were up to bat. They continued to watch the game. Sharon became interested in watching Kris Bryant as the screen showed a close up of him. "He's got the most pretty blue eyes I've ever seen" Sharon said, not realizing she said that out loud. "Hey?" Andy said to her and Sharon looked up at him. "You have the most handsome brown eyes I've ever seen, honey" Sharon said quickly to him and then reached up and kissed him._ They ended up making out on the couch and didn't see the rest of the game that night.

Andy chuckled as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked the car. Sharon looked at him. "What's so funny?" she asked him as she undid her seatbelt. "I was just thinking back to when we watched that game of the World Series, you were so googly eyed watching that Kris Bryant guy from the Cubs" Andy said to Sharon. Sharon thought for a moment. "Oh yeah the player with the pretty blue eyes" she said as she stepped out of the car. Andy walked around the car to join her and Matthew as they walked in to the restaurant. "Hey, you're not supposed to remember him" Andy said in protest. Sharon looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, I remember a lot from that night, and I was not remembering him" Sharon said to him and gave him a smile, which in turn made Andy grin. They walked up to the counter and placed their order.

Matthew chose a place for them to sit. Sharon went to the table with their drinks and Andy brought the tray with their sandwiches and soup. Andy sat down next to Sharon and Matthew sat across from them as they ate their food. "I have a science project coming up for school" Matthew said to them as they ate. "What kind of science project?" Sharon said as she drank her lemonade. "Well, we learned about the solar system a couple of weeks ago, and now we need to build a model of our solar system" Matthew said to her and Andy. "Oh, okay. We'll I can help you with that" Andy said to Matthew as he ate his sandwich. Matthew was happy with that. "When is it due?" Sharon asked him. "Um, next week I think. Maybe Friday?" Matthew said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Friday, this Friday or next Friday?" Sharon asked him. Matthew shrugged his shoulders again as he couldn't remember. "Matthew" Sharon sighed and took a deep breath as she pulled out her phone.

Sharon was logging onto the school's website and looking up the class assignment on the web page for Matthew's class. As she was busy trying to find it, Andy looked over at Matthew. Matthew looked like he was in trouble and had a worried look on his face. "You're not in trouble, Matthew, if that's what you think" Andy said to him. "Sorry, I just remembered the assignment right now" Matthew said to Andy. "There's nothing to be worried about, okay?" Andy said to Matthew and then glanced over at Sharon who was looking at her phone. "Okay, the solar system assignment is due this Friday" Sharon said as she glanced across the table at Matthew and then at Andy. "Don't worry, we will get it taken care of before Friday" Andy said to her. "We need to go buy the supplies to make the model solar system" Sharon said to him. "Relax" he said to her as he kissed her forehead. "We'll text Rusty to see if he can stop at the craft store and buy the Styrofoam kit" Andy said as he pulled out his phone and texted Rusty.

Andy then glanced at his watch. It was getting close to the time they needed to start heading over to the game. "Okay, everyone done here, cause we need to get moving towards the game now" Andy said to Sharon and Matthew. Matthew helped clear the table and Sharon threw away their trash. Matthew hung back and waited for Andy. "Mom's mad at me, isn't she" Matthew said as Andy and him started to walk towards Sharon and the door. "She's not mad at you, buddy. Trust me" Andy said to him and then they joined Sharon. Sharon placed her hand around Matthew's shoulder and they walked out back to their car.

They arrived at the stadium and there were cars and cars lined up for parking. They walked into the stadium and Sharon and Matthew followed Andy to their seats. They were sitting, this time, further up the third base side closer to left field. They took their seats and a couple of minutes later, the game started. Kris Bryant was up to bat second for the Cubs. "You're pretty blue eyes is up to bat" Andy teased Sharon. Sharon swatted her hand on his arm. "He's got nothing on you, Andy" she whispered to him in his ear. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.

The Cubs were out and it was the Dodgers turn up to bat. Chase Utley was up to bat to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Andy leaned over to Matthew. "Watch this hitter, Matthew" he said to him and Matthew nodded. Utley swung the bat and made contact with the ball as it went deep into left field, over the wall for a home run. "Wow!" Matthew exclaimed. Andy held up his hand for a high five and Matthew hit his hand. "Did you know he was going to hit that?" Matthew asked Andy as they watched the next batter. "No, but you always need to be ready for anything and he got a good swing in on that pitch" Andy said to Matthew.

They continued watching the game. Sharon snuggled up on Andy's side, as it was getting chilly out in the night air. During the sixth inning, Sharon got up from her seat and told Andy that she would be right back. She walked over to where the women's restroom was at and once she was done, she made her way over to the souvenir shop and went inside. She had bought a blanket to share and a sweatshirt for herself. She returned back to their seats and pulled out the blanket from the bag and gave it to Andy and Matthew. Matthew took most of the blanket, as he was colder than Andy. Andy looked at Sharon and leaned over. "I like this sweatshirt on you, it's very fitting, plus it looks good on you" Andy said to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

The rest of the game went by, and the Cubs ended up winning the game. Andy was walking back towards the car with Matthew as Sharon had stopped to take a picture of the two of them. She then quickly caught up to Andy, who had stopped to see where she had gone to. He smiled at her when she showed him the picture that she had just taken, and the three of them kept walking to the car. Matthew climbed into the car, sad that the Dodgers had lost the game. "Don't worry buddy, this is what Spring Training is all about, come the regular season, the Dodgers will be out in full force winning games" Andy said to Matthew as he made sure he was all set before he closed the door.

Sharon had watched the exchange between the two and it made her so happy to see them interact on this trip. Andy turned around to face Sharon after he closed the car door. She smiled at him and he gave her his famous smile. He pulled her into him and wrapped her in a quick embrace. "I love you so much" she said to him. "I love you too" Andy said to her as he gave her a kiss before opening her car door. Sharon sat inside and Andy closed the door.

Andy made his way around to the other side of the car when something caught his eye. He saw two people fighting in the parking lot, not too far from where they had parked. They were pushing and shoving each other. Andy, being the police detective that he is, opened his door slightly. "Hey, there's two people fighting over there, stay in the car" he quickly said to Sharon before closing the door again. "Wait! Be careful" Sharon said to Andy but he didn't hear her. Sharon looked to see where Andy had gone to before she stepped out of the car.

As Andy approached the two people fighting, more people gathered around them, watching. Andy made his way through the crowd. "LAPD" he said to one of them. "Did someone call security?" he asked. "They're on their way over here" a person from the crowd said. One person from the crowd was trying to break up the fight. Andy joined in to grab the other person. "Hey! Knock it off! Both of you" Andy yelled at the two fighting as he grabbed one person. That guy took a swing at Andy, who had ducked out of the way, then grabbed his hand and pulled it back behind the guy's back. Andy went down on top of the guy. He then looked up at the other person who was being held back by a bigger guy. "Why are you two fighting here?" Andy said to the guy on the ground. "He hit on my girl" the guy said. Andy shook his head. By this time, security had arrived and they helped Andy pull the guy up from the ground.

Andy looked around and saw Sharon standing away from the crowd holding Matthew's hand. He knew that she wasn't going to stay in the car, like he told her to. Security had taken the two guys away and also got a statement from Andy. "Thank you Lieutenant" one of the Security guards said and then Andy walked away towards Sharon and Matthew. Sharon saw a slight cut on Andy's face and also saw that his knee was scraped up, both from when he took the guy down to the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked him as he came up to them. "I'm fine" he said, waving off her concern at the moment. "Two guys fighting cause one guy hit on the other guy's girl" Andy said as they walked back over to their car. "Get in" Sharon said to them as she looked at Andy. "I'll drive us back to the hotel" Sharon added, but Andy protested. "Nope" Sharon said before Andy could say anything else and got in the driver's seat.

Andy walked around the other side with Matthew. "Are you sure you're okay?" Matthew asked Andy before he got in the car. "Yeah, buddy. I'm fine, promise" Andy said to Matthew and then he closed Matthew's door and got in the passenger seat. He glanced over at Sharon who watched him get in the front seat. Sharon then drove them back to the hotel.

They arrived at their hotel room, Andy unlocking the door for everyone as they all walked in to the room. "Matthew, why don't you get ready for bed while I look at Daddy's injuries from earlier" Sharon said to Matthew. Matthew walked over to his suitcase and pulled out his pajamas. "Fine" he said as he walked back to the bathroom. Sharon then looked at Andy, who gave her a slight smile. "Sit" Sharon said to Andy as she motioned him to sit on the bed. Andy sat down and then Sharon tended to his face and knee. She had brought a first aid kit with them on this trip. Andy winced when Sharon placed some hydrogen peroxide, which was on a cotton ball, on his face. "Sorry" she whispered to him. How many times have they been through this, and yet she wouldn't change anything for the world.

He grabbed her hand before she could do the same to his knee. "Next time, I'll mind my own business" he said to her. She smiled at him. "Next time, you'll do exactly what you always do, Andy. You help people" Sharon said to him and then cleaned up his knee. She then stood up and leaned over him, kissing him on his lips. Matthew came out of the bathroom and walked over to where Andy and Sharon were. "Did Mommy fix you up?" Matthew asked Andy as he looked over his knee and the small cut on his face. "Yes, she's pretty amazing, Mommy is" Andy said to Matthew, quietly, as he quickly glanced over at Sharon who was putting things away that she used. Matthew nodded and then placed his clothes on his suitcase and got in his bed. He grabbed his book that he started reading at the pool yesterday and wanted to finish it.

Later on, Sharon and Andy were both lying in bed, with Andy holding her close to him. She buried her head into his neck and took a deep breath. Andy felt Sharon shudder as he held her to him. "Sharon?" he whispered to her as Matthew was already sleeping. Sharon closed her eyes and placed a small kiss on his neck. Andy ran his hand up and down her arm. Sharon moved her head over and propped herself up so that she was now looking at Andy, their faces mere inches apart. Andy looked into her eyes. "You're the most amazing woman I know" Andy whispered to her as he kissed her. She kissed him back and then settled her head on his chest as she laid half on top of him, half on the bed. She was running her finger in a circle on his chest as he held her. "I hope you had a good time here and that you were able to relax a little" Andy said to her, just above a whisper. "I did" Sharon sighed as she smiled. They both drifted off to sleep. Their little vacation was coming to an end and they would be heading back to LA tomorrow morning.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks again for the great reviews on this story. This is going to be the last chapter of this story, but I am writing another story as we speak that will pick up right after this one leaves off. Thanks again!

Chapter 19

Early Monday morning, back in LA, Provenza was pulling up to a crime scene. "Of all the times the Flynns go on a vacation, we catch a murder leaving me in charge of the team" Provenza muttered under his breath as he parked the car. He stepped out of the car and walked over to where Amy was standing. "Alright Sykes, what do we have here?" Provenza asked her. "Lieutenant, meet Randy Grey, 45 year old stockbroker who was found this morning by his partner, Wally Parker" Amy said to Provenza as they walked around the body. "Business partner?" Provenza asked Amy. "Uh, life partner sir" Amy answered back. Provenza gave her a look and then continued to walk over to where Kendall was leaning down over the body.

"What do you have, Kendall?" Provenza said to him. "Well, Lieutenant, rigor has definitely set in so I would say he's been dead for 10 hours, give or take?" Kendall said as he moved away from the body. "We'll know more when we get him to the morgue" Kendall added as the victim's body was zipped up in a body bag. "Do we know cause of death, anyone?" Provenza said as he looked around the room. "Looks like he was bashed in the back of his head with something" Kendall said as he stood up from the body. "Alright, let's search the house for the blunt object" Provenza said to the team.

Kendall had left with the body. Buzz was filming the crime scene and was currently following the trail of blood from the living room, where the body was found, to one of the bedrooms. "Ah, Lieutenant?" Buzz called out to Provenza. "What is it, Buzz?" Provenza called out as he was still standing in the living room. Buzz walked out in to the hallway. "You are going to want to see this" Buzz said and then Provenza, Mike, and Julio followed him to the bedroom. As they walked inside the room, there was blood covering the walls, and a message was written on one of the walls. 'He got what was coming' was the message. Provenza turned to Mike. "Now we know why this is a major crime" Mike said to the group. Provenza looked around at the walls. "Is this all of our victim's blood?" he asked Mike. "It might be, we'd have to wait till SID does their report, but I could take a small sample, match it to the body at the morgue" Mike said to Provenza and Provenza nodded.

Julio searched the closet in the bedroom for the murder weapon. "Could this be it, sir?" Julio said to Provenza as he held up a bloodied book end. "Yes, I think we have found our murder weapon" Provenza said as Julio placed the book end in a plastic evidence bag. Provenza glanced at his watch, it was 5:15 in the morning. The team had been called out an hour ago. Provenza pulled out his phone and began to dial a number.

Andy felt Sharon roll over as her phone was ringing on the night stand next to the bed. Sharon grabbed the phone and saw who was calling her. "It's your partner" she said to Andy as she answered the phone. "Yes, Lieutenant, is everything okay?" Sharon said over the phone as Andy laid back down on the bed. "Sorry to wake you up early on your vacation, Captain, but I thought you'd want to know that we just caught a murder case" Provenza said to her over the phone. Sharon glanced at the clock on the night stand. It was 5:17 now. Sharon rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Tell me what you have so far, Lieutenant?" Sharon said as she stood up from the bed and walked over to the desk and sat down.

Andy glanced over at Matthew, who was still sleeping, holding his wolf and bear tightly to him. He then glanced at Sharon sitting at the desk, writing down something. He knew that she would want to get back to LA as quickly as possible, now that the team had caught a case. He rubbed his hand over his face and got out of bed. He made his way over to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. The cut from last night was already scabbing over. He splashed some water on his face after he used the toilet and wiped his face and hands with a towel. He walked back out to the room and Sharon was still on the phone.

"We have a dead stockbroker, who was struck in the back of the head by a heavy book end but that's just the tip of it, Captain" Provenza started to explain to her. She glanced over at Andy who had come back out from the bathroom and was now at his suitcase, pulling new clothes out. "What else is there, Lieutenant?" Sharon asked Provenza as she went back to her notes she had written down. "There was writing on the bedroom wall. Mike is sending the picture of it to your phone" Provenza said to her. "This could be a hate crime, we don't know yet" Provenza added. "Hang on Lieutenant, it just came through" Sharon said as she looked at her phone and the picture that Mike had sent her. She closed her eyes and shook her head and then returned back to the phone call.

Andy pulled out his clothes for the day and went back in to the bathroom and changed his clothes. When he came out the second time, Sharon was off of her phone but still sitting at the desk. Andy placed his pajama pants on top of his bag and walked over to where Sharon was still sitting. "What time do you want to leave?" he asked her as he rubbed her shoulders. It was now 5:30 in the morning. "Provenza said that he will hold down the fort, so to speak, for the rest of today" she said to him. Andy looked at her and nodded. "Yes, but I know you want to get back since we caught a case" Andy said to her as he looked in her eyes. Yes, she was torn between this new case and their vacation day. "Sharon, we can head back earlier, we could be in LA by noon if we leave soon, and then it'll be just a half day" Andy said to her, knowing she was contemplating the thought in her head.

"Yes, but we can't just bring Matthew in to the Murder Room with us" Sharon said as she glanced over at the sleeping child. Andy nodded. "We'll figure it out when we get closer to LA. I can call Nicole, since the boys are off today as well" Andy said as he shrugged his shoulders. "I hate to cut our time short here" Sharon said to him as she stood up and caressed his face with her hand. He gave her a sad smile. He understood and then he leaned down to give her a kiss. He then went over to his suitcase and started to pack it. Sharon sighed and then walked over to her bag and pulled out her clothes she was going to wear today.

As Sharon was in the bathroom getting dressed, Andy walked over to where Matthew was sleeping and woke him up. "Matthew, come on, time to get up now" Andy said to Matthew as he shook his shoulder gently. Matthew opened his eyes and started to get out of bed. He saw a majority of their things were already packed. He looked at the window to see outside but it was still dark out. "What time is it?" Matthew asked Andy as he yawned. "Six o'clock buddy, we have to get going earlier than we thought" Andy said to him as he held his wolf and teddy bear.

Sharon stepped out of the bathroom and saw that Matthew was now up and he was packing his bag. She walked over to him and rubbed his back. "Why don't you go get dressed now, I can pack up the rest of your suitcase" Sharon said to him and then he grabbed his clothes and headed towards the bathroom. Sharon then packed up Matthew's suitcase and backpack. She made sure that she placed the baseball card and the baseball that he got at the game inside his backpack. She then watched Andy as he placed all the bags that were ready to take down to the car, by the door.

Matthew came out of the bathroom and placed all of his things in his suitcase and closed it up. He then looked at his backpack. "Mom, did you pack everything in here?" he asked Sharon as Sharon was now making sure she had all of her things with her. "Yes, I did" she said to him, giving him a smile. Andy and Sharon were both wearing jeans and a shirt. Since they had about a 5 hour drive ahead of them, they wanted to be comfortable even though they were going to the PAB when they arrived. When they had first arrived at the hotel, they had placed their guns in the safe in their room. Now, Andy unlocked the safe that was in the closet, and they both placed their guns in their holsters on their belt, along with their badges.

"Ready?" Andy asked them. Matthew nodded and pulled his suitcase behind him. He had placed his wolf and teddy bear inside his backpack so it would be easier to carry everything down to the car. Andy had pushed the luggage cart down the hallway towards the elevators with Matthew in front of him and Sharon next to him as they walked. Matthew hit the elevator button and once the doors opened, Andy pushed the cart inside. They walked out to the lobby and then over to where the car was parked. As Andy opened the back lift gate, Matthew opened his door and placed his backpack inside on the seat next to where he was sitting. He took his wolf and teddy bear out. He sat down in his seat and placed his seatbelt on. He then leaned over to grab the blanket that Sharon had bought them last night at the game. He placed it over his legs and then grabbed the door to close it. He was ready for the car ride back as he waited for everyone else to get settled. Andy finished packing the car and then Sharon went to go sit in the passenger seat while Andy returned the cart and checked out of the room.

"So did you and Daddy catch a case? Is that why we are leaving so early?" Matthew asked Sharon as they waited for Andy to return to the car. "Yes, unfortunately sweetie, my team did catch a case so that's why we are leaving early" Sharon said to Matthew. She turned around in her seat, and looked at him. "Are you disappointed that we are leaving?" she asked Matthew. "No" Matthew said to her. "I had a good time here, but I miss Moxie and want to go home to see him" Matthew said as Andy opened his car door and got in to the driver's seat. Sharon looked at Andy and smiled. "Everyone set?" Andy asked as he started the car. "Yes" Sharon said. "Yep" Matthew said and then Andy drove them towards the highway to head back home.

Two hours later, they crossed back into California and stopped at the rest stop. Sharon got out of the car and met Andy at the front of the car. "I'm going to go in, use the washroom and get something to drink" Sharon said to him. Andy nodded. "Okay" he said to her and then watched her walk towards the building. Andy then made his way around to Matthew's door and opened it. "Want to get out and stretch a little?" Andy asked Matthew as Matthew unbuckled his seatbelt. Matthew walked around by the car and saw a sign that said 'Welcome to California'. Andy watched Matthew as he walked over to the sign. "Why don't we take a selfie of us" Andy said as he walked over to Matthew and then he took a selfie of them with the sign in the background.

Sharon came out of the building and saw the two of them by the sign that said 'Welcome to California'. She smiled at her boys as they posed for a selfie picture and walked over to join them. Andy then took another picture with the three of them in it. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" Andy asked Matthew as they walked back to the main sidewalk where the cars were parked at. Matthew thought about it. "Why don't you go and try, it's a long drive through the desert" Sharon said as she patted Matthew on his back. Andy and Matthew then walked into the building and Sharon walked over to the car and waited for them to come out.

The rest stop was busy with cars and trucks and five minutes later, Andy and Matthew came out of the building. Andy's phone alerted him to a text message. He pulled out his phone and the message was from Provenza. 'Don't tell the Captain but Chief Davis is on the prowl this morning, wanted to know where she was at, don't worry I took care of it' Provenza's message said. Andy stopped as Matthew kept walking to Sharon. 'We just crossed the border into California' Andy texted Provenza back and then made his way to join Sharon and Matthew. "Everything good?" she asked Andy. "Yes" Andy replied, smiled to her and then they drove away. He didn't want to alarm Sharon that Winnie Davis was looking for her. He didn't know what Provenza had told her but he said he took care of it. Sharon grabbed Andy's right hand and held it as they drove onto the highway and headed west.

Andy glanced at the rear view mirror and saw that Matthew was asleep as they were driving through the desert. "So tell me about this case we caught" he said to Sharon as she shifted in her seat and turned towards him. "Um, from what Provenza told me this morning, a stockbroker was hit over the back of his head by a book end, his significant other found him this morning dead, and there was a message written on the wall of the bedroom saying 'he got what was coming'" Sharon said to him as she continued to look at him.

An hour passed and they were still driving through the desert. Andy glanced over at Sharon, she was now sleeping as well, but she continued to hold Andy's right hand. That made him smile. As he continued driving, there was nothing but desert land on both sides and mountains in the distant. There were a lot of cars heading west so he was grateful to not be the only car on the road at this point. He turned up the radio and was listening to Frank Sinatra.

Sharon stirred in her seat, she was mumbling something. Andy glanced over at her, her eyes still closed. They were now coming through Palm Springs. Andy checked the gas gauge and they had plenty of gas to get them home. "Andy!" Sharon yelled out loud, which woke herself up. Sharon's yelling startled Andy, who had swerved on the road a little but continued to be in his lane. Sharon was trying to catch her breath as she became aware of her surroundings. "Are you okay?" Andy asked her as he glanced at her, then at Matthew in the rear view mirror, glad he was still asleep.

"I dreamt you got shot" Sharon said still trying to catch her breath as she held onto Andy's right hand. "You sure you're okay, I can pull over at the next exit" Andy said to her as they drove through Palm Springs. "I'm okay" she said as she squeezed his hand. Sharon looked out her window as she sat back up in her seat. A couple more hours and they would be back in LA. She then glanced at Andy as he drove. That dream was way too real for her liking. They were in the Murder Room, when a suspect pulled the service weapon of an officer and started shooting in the office. Andy had brought Sharon down with him as they ducked under the desks. There was shouting going on and more gun fire. She heard Julio say something but she was more concerned about the look on Andy's face while he laid on top of her. She shook her head from her thoughts on that nightmare and decided to look out the window instead to calm herself down.

"Did you get a hold of Nicole earlier?" Sharon asked Andy as they were coming up to the San Bernardino area now. "No, I didn't" Andy said as he glanced at his mirrors, noting that Matthew was now awake reading his book. "I'll call her" Sharon said as she pulled out her phone and found Nicole's name. The phone rang and then Nicole picked it up. "Hi Sharon" Nicole said. "Hi Nicole, I hope I am not interrupting anything" Sharon said as she heard some noise in the background. "No, you're not. What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be in Arizona still?" Nicole asked her. "We left early this morning as our team caught a case. We are on our way back to LA now. Your father and I were wondering if we could drop Matthew off with you before we head to the office" Sharon asked her and there was a pause. "Um, well actually Dean, the boys, and I are not home. We took them to Disneyland for the day" Nicole said. "Oh, that's quite alright" Sharon said to her. "Sorry" Nicole said to Sharon. "Not a problem, Nicole. Enjoy your time there and say hello to everyone" Sharon said to Nicole. "Okay" Nicole said and then hung up the phone.

"Nicole, Dean, and the boys are at Disneyland today so" Sharon said as she hung up the phone and looked at Andy. "It's fine Sharon, Matthew can stay in your office while we are there" Andy said. Sharon just looked at him. "We're supposed to be off anyway, right? So, we'll just stop in, see how the team is doing, and then leave at a decent hour" Andy said to her. Sharon chuckled at his comment and shook her head. This was not turning into the ending that they had hoped for when they left for their vacation as they approached downtown Los Angeles.

"Change of plans Matthew" Andy said to Matthew as they arrived at the parking garage at the PAB. "You are coming with Mommy and me up to our office" Andy said as he parked their car. "Really?" Matthew said. He was always excited to hang out at the office whenever he got the chance to. "Yes, we are only going to be here for a short time" Andy said as he glanced at Sharon. He was hoping they would be there for a short time, but who was he kidding. Matthew got out of the car and brought his backpack with him. He held Sharon's hand as they walked over to the elevators. Sharon, Andy, and Matthew all stepped inside and Matthew hit the button for the ninth floor. "They're in the Murder Room, Provenza just texted me" Andy said as he placed his phone back in his pocket of his jeans.

The elevator stopped at the first floor and when the doors opened, Winnie Davis stepped inside. She saw Sharon, Andy, and a child with them. "Captain, I thought you were on a vacation day today" Winnie Davis said to Sharon. "We were, but since my team caught a case, I wanted to stop by and see how we were progressing" Sharon said to her. "I didn't know you two had a child" Winnie said to Sharon and Andy. Andy just smiled at her. "Yes, this is Matthew, our son" Andy said to her as the elevator stopped at the third floor. Winnie Davis smiled at Matthew and then stepped out of the elevator. "Well, good luck Captain, Lieutenant" she said as she walked away and the doors closed. "Who was that?" Matthew asked them. "Someone who doesn't like Mommy" Andy said to Matthew and Sharon gave him a look. "She's a chief, and sometimes her and I don't agree with things, that's all" Sharon said to Matthew. The doors opened on the ninth floor and the three of them stepped out and headed towards the Murder Room.

Sharon walked in to the Murder Room first, followed by Matthew and Andy. "Captain" Provenza said as he was sitting at his desk. She continued to walk towards her office and Matthew followed her inside. Andy walked over to Provenza's desk and took out the baseball and the picture he had autographed. "Here, might as well give this to you now" Andy said as he handed the items to Provenza. Provenza looked at the baseball and the picture. "Adrian Gonzalez signed both of them" Andy said to him. "That's it? You just got one player's signature?" Provenza stated. "What? You're lucky I got it signed at all" Andy said to him as he turned and walked back towards his desk. "Thank you" Provenza muttered to him as he placed the items in his desk drawer.

"Lieutenant, we weren't expecting you guys back today" Julio said to Andy. Andy glanced at Sharon in her office with Matthew. "Yeah, well, she wanted to see what progress you made on the case so far" Andy said to Julio. Sharon then walked out of her office and Andy gave her a look. She nodded as he silently asked if she was okay. He glanced at Matthew who was sitting at her desk, reading his book and then followed Sharon towards the Murder Board. "Alright, let's see what you've got" Sharon said to the team as they gathered around to tell Sharon and Andy about the case they had caught that morning.

The End….


End file.
